


Harmony Ever After

by PassionsPrincess



Category: Passions (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 38,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PassionsPrincess/pseuds/PassionsPrincess
Summary: 5 years after the series finale of Passions we catch up with the residents of Harmony. Have they finally found happiness or will the never ending drama found in Harmony keep them ensnared forever? Revenge is a dish best served cold. Cast heavy! #PostSeries





	1. Chapter 1

“Harmony Ever After”  
AN: 5 years after the series finale of Passions, we find the residents of Harmony doing relatively well. Ivy and Sam have finally married and the chief of police has forgiven her for her past transgressions. Eve and Julian have also married and turned the Crane Empire into a force for good in the world. The new Mrs. Crane is now chief of staff at the Harmony hospital and often has her hands full. Luckily, her daughters have returned to Harmony to help. After caring for her father until he passed away, Simone became a nurse and now works at the hospital. Whitney returned to her first love and became a tennis coach. Her newest student?. Jane Winthrop.  
……  
“Come on honey, you’re doing great!” Whitney cheered as little Jane jogged across the court swinging her racket.   
The little girl on the opposite side of Jane swung her racket back with ferocity causing Jane to miss.  
“Chelsea!” the tennis coach fussed. “I told you to go easy on Jane. She hasn’t been doing this as long as you have.”  
“Sorry Mommy.” the pretty girl shrugged.  
“It’s okay honey”, her mother replied. “Come on girls; let’s see what your brothers and Aunt Theresa are up to.”  
……  
During the past five years, Ethan and Theresa had opened a very successful law firm in Harmony. While Theresa was no longer head of the Crane Empire, the Winthrop’s’ made enough money to live comfortably and help their families as much as possible. Theresa was working from home that day when her best friend brought the children home.  
“Mommy!” Jane yelled as she rushed inside to see her mother.  
“Hey sweetheart”, Theresa exclaimed as she put her work aside and gathered her daughter into her arms.  
As Jane excitedly told her mother all about her day, the brunette kissed her daughter’s forehead.  
“I’m so glad you had a great day honey,” she said. “Daddy will be home soon, so why don’t you take Chelsea up to your room while Aunt Whitney and I talk?”  
“Okay Mommy”, Jane said before grabbing Chelsea’s hand and running upstairs.  
“Wow”, Whitney said as she sat down on the couch beside Theresa. “Even after all this time it’s hard to believe we have little girls.”  
“I know!” the brunette exclaimed. “After everything we’ve been through our lives are finally the way we always dreamed. We have our careers, our kids, and our husb-.”  
Whitney looked away.  
“I’m so sorry Whitney,” her best friend said feeling terrible about her blunder.  
“It’s okay Theresa” Whitney replied and hugged her. “Really, it’s been over five years now and I’ve come to terms with it. Chad had his demons but I know he loved the kids and me. I look at Chelsea and Miles every day and I know his still hear with us in spirit.”  
“You’re absolutely right”, Theresa said, tearing up at the thought of Ethan’s best friend. “You know Ethan and I will always be here for you and the kids, just like you’ve always been there for me”.  
The two women hugged and wiped away each other’s tears.  
“You know, if no one else in the world got their happily ever after I’m glad you got yours”, Whitney said. “You deserve it.”  
“Oh sweetheart”, Theresa said gathering Whitney in her arms. “You’ll get yours too I promise!”  
Oh Theresa I hope you are right, Whitney thought.  
….  
Over at the Bennett’s, Ivy Crane Bennet was busy doing dishes while Little Ethan did his homework and Jonathan played. While Sam was still acting as Chief of Police, Ivy was once again a homemaker who often did charitable events. Only this time around she was happy, after losing Fox and finally making amends with Sam, Ivy resolved to spend more time with her remaining children and grandchildren. She even visited Pretty in the mental hospital on occasion. While Ivy had a better relationship with her children, Sam’s children had still not forgiven her for what had happened to their mother. They were cordial though all except for Kay. This did not much bother Ivy because she still held Kay responsible for Fox’s death. If Kay had simply broken things off with Fox instead of stringing him along as she chased after Miguel, her baby boy would still be alive today.  
“Grandma”, Little Ethan called interrupted her thoughts. “Miles is coming by to play basketball!”  
“Fine darling, as long as all your homework is done!” the blonde replied as she started dinner.  
It was still hard to believe that Little Ethan was she and Sam’s grandchild. After all the years of war with Theresa, Ivy was stunned to learn that she had been telling the truth all along. Luckily, Theresa and Ethan had forgiven her and allowed her to be a part of the children’s lives. It had taken time for her relationship with Theresa to heal and grow, but once the two women realized how similar they were it got easier. Yes, she was lucky to have her remaining children, grandchildren as well as the love of her life. Nevertheless, Ivy Crane Bennet still had a few scores to settle. As she pulled Sam’s favorite sweet potato pie from the fridge, she smiled. Revenge is a dish best served cold.


	2. Chapter 2

In nearby Castleton, two old friends sat in a coffee shop catching up.

Living so close to their former partners had been tough, so Gwen and Sheridan had decided that it was best to live in the nearby town instead. After her three-year prison stint, Gwen had reached out to Sheridan to apologize for her actions. Eventually Sheridan had forgiven her, understanding well what love and desperation could drive a person to do. After all she had her son Marty back and she had Antonio she was happy…wasn't she?

….

"Sheridan?" Gwen called pulling the Crane heiress back from her thoughts. "Did you hear a word I said?"

"I'm sorry Gwen", Sheridan said sheepishly.

"I asked how Marty was doing", her friend said.

"Oh he's doing great Gwen", Sheridan replied. "Luis took him to a professional baseball game the other day and he couldn't stop talking about it."

"And Fancy?" Gwen questioned eyebrow raised.

She had never taken to the idea of Fancy and Luis and never tried to hide it.

"Marty is my son with Luis, Fancy has nothing to do with him", Sheridan snapped.

Gwen held up her hands in surrender.

"I know Sheridan, I know", she said. "It just seems strange that after all this time they haven't tried for another baby."

The two women sipped their coffee silently wrapped in their thoughts of the past. Shortly after the weddings 5 years ago, Fancy had been in a routine traffic stop. Only the suspect refused to stop resulting in a high-speed chase that ended in a horrific crash. Fancy had lost her baby and the suspect had been killed in the accident. Everyone involved was left devastated but no one more so than Fancy.

"I know how hard it can be to lose a child", Sheridan said quietly breaking the silence. "I'm so thankful I got Marty got back."

Gwen nodded in agreement.

"I still miss my Sarah", Gwen said. "And now I'm missing out on Jonathan's life."

"Oh Gwen", Sheridan said as she squeezed her best friends hand. "I thought you were seeing him more?"

"Every other weekend", she scoffed bitterly. "I am his mother Sheridan! I should be the one taking him to school in the mornings, asking about his day, and tucking him in at night!"

"Have you tried asking Ethan and Theresa for more time?" Sheridan asked feeling bad for her friend.

"That bitch Theresa is not Jonathan's mother, I don't have to ask her for anything", Gwen snarled. "I asked Ethan for every weekend and possibly transitioning to me keeping him during the week and Ethan having him on the weekends."

"Well, what did he say?" Sheridan asked skeptically.

"Of course he said no to full time but he'll think about the weekends", Gwen said. "It's the least he could do Sheridan, they have Jane and Little Ethan I have nothing."

"That's not true Gwen", Sheridan said as her phone began buzzing. "You have your mother, Jonathan and me"

"Thanks for reminding me", Gwen said hugging her only friend goodbye. "I'm going to pick up my baby boy from Ivy and Sam's and we'll see you at Marty's baseball game tomorrow."

After Gwen left, Sheridan finally checked her buzzing cell phone and one message stood out. It was simple text from Luis that got her heart racing in a way Antonio never could…"We need to talk"

…

As Ethan arrived home from work, he was delighted to find his happy wife and daughter waiting for him. He had always dreamed this scene, coming home to the love of his life and their children. The noise level in the house quickly let the lawyer know that two of their children were missing.

"Hey guys", he said kissing his wife and daughter. "Where are the boys?"

"At Grandma and Grandpa's", Jane said with a pout. "Mommy wouldn't let me go."

Ethan raised an eyebrow at his wife, who refused to meet his stare. Losing custody of Jane as a baby had been especially devastating for Theresa. She had missed being her mother for almost two years. After finally getting her daughter back, Theresa had worked tirelessly at bonding with her. Even now, years later the brunette rarely let Jane out of her sight.

….

"I'll tell you what", Ethan said breaking the tension. "You run in the kitchen and grab a snack; I'll call your abuela and see if she'll come pick you up."

"Yay!" the girl shouted with joy. "I hope Maria's there!"

She kissed her father and ran to ask their housekeeper for a snack.

"Honey", he began but Theresa held up her hand to stop him.

"I know Ethan and I'm really trying", she said. "I even let her go with Whitney to the Mansion to have her tennis lesson instead of having it here."

Ethan grabbed his wife by the chin and gently forced her to look at him.

"Listen", he said softly. "You never have to worry about losing Jane or any of us ever again."

Theresa give a teary-eyed smiled and hugged her husband.

"Now, let's call your mother to get Jane for the night", he whispered in her ear. "While we work on a little sister for her and the boys."

"Ethan!" Theresa squealed and giggled as he kissed her

…

The only thing that had changed about Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald's home over the years was its size. After settling into their lives and careers, the Lopez-Fitzgerald children had come together to rebuild their childhood home. They had added as many new wings as Pilar would allow and it was a good thing they had, with her growing brood of grandchildren, Pilar would need the room. She loved having her grandchildren around, and since she no longer worked at the Crane mansion, she had plenty of time to baby-sit as well as pursue her own hobbies.

Pilar was just returning home from picking up Jane. After allowing her to play with Maria and Paloma's son Joseph, she quickly fed the children and put them to bed. As the older woman settled down on the sofa to watch her telenovas, she heard her rowdy grandchildren doing anything but sleeping.

"Just like their parents." she said to herself and smiled.

Even though her children were all grown now Pilar could not help but worry over them and right now, she was very worried. Her girls were doing well for the most part. Theresa and Ethan were happy with their children and finally settled down. Paloma and Noah had Joseph 9 months after the wedding. Noah was now part owner at the bar, and Paloma was enjoying her career as a police officer so Joseph spent lots of time with his grandmother.

However, when it came to her boys Pilar was worried. Even after five years, Sheridan and Antonio had not remarried or had any children together. Moreover, with Fancy and Luis never really recovering from their loss all those years ago the matriarch worried that Luis and Sheridan would be drawn to each as they always were. Even with Miguel, she worried that he was not truly happy in his marriage to Kay, after the first few years he seemed to become distant. She wanted nothing more than for him to be a family with Kay and Maria but the devious way that Kay had broken up her own parents' marriage in order to be with Miguel was disturbing. If she would go to those lengths to get Miguel what else, had she done? Would Miguel ever truly let Charity go?

Pilar sighed and looked up to the heavens for guidance, she definitely sensed trouble ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

…

As Gwen grew closer to Ivy & Sam's, she felt her heart swell with anticipation at seeing her son. After waiting for so long to have a child of her own she had lost both Jane and Jonathan in her quest for vengeance against Theresa. Luckily, she had been able to spend time and bond with Jonathan in the last two years. Theresa refused to allow her any contact with the little girl she had raised as her own for two years. Now that the tables had turned Gwen honestly couldn't blame her. She had done everything she could to limit Theresa's contact with Jane when she had had custody, and if she had her way now Theresa wouldn't have Jane or Jonathan. As Gwen pulled into the Bennett's driveway, she tried to shake away the negative thoughts as she headed inside to get her son.

"Jonathan!" she called as she let herself in through the unlocked door.

Ivy and Jonathan looked up from the table where they were preparing to have dinner.

"Look Johnny, its Mama Gwen", Ivy said sweetly as the boy rushed forward to hug his mother. "Run upstairs and grab the bag your parents packed."

As Gwen released Jonathan, she fixed Ivy with a hateful glare. Waiting until her grandson had gone upstairs, Ivy turned to her ex daughter in law.

"Is everything alright Gwen?" she asked as she sipped her tea. "You look a little upset."

"You know damn well what's wrong", Gwen, snarled trying to keep her voice down. "His name is Jonathan not Johnny and I am his mother not "Mama Gwen"!"

"Ah yes", Ivy said swirling her cup. "My mistake. With you in that awful prison for all those years and Theresa and Ethan raising him I almost forgot that you gave birth to him."

"Whether you chose to remember or not Ivy Winthrop", Gwen said getting in Ivy's face. "I am his mother and I won't have you undermining my position in Jonathan's life."

"That's Ivy Bennet to you Gwen." Ivy snapped. "And you may have given birth to him but who does he cry for when he's sick or sad or lonely? Who puts him to bed at night and gets him up for school in the morning? News flash hon, it's not you."

Ivy's stinging taunt left Gwen speechless and she reared back and slapped Ivy as hard as she could.

"Ivy Winthrop or Crane or Bennet whichever the hell it is how dare you!" Gwen yelled losing control. "You finally have Sam, having killed Grace Bennet to get him, and you're still a miserable bitch!"

"What happened to Grace was an accident! I never imagined that she'd be killed in a bus explosion!" Ivy yelled back holding her cheek. "But you! You knew what being a Crane meant to Ethan and you destroyed his life anyway. Not mention you let someone else take the blame for ten years! I'll never forgive you for all the heartache you caused my son!"

Gwen rolled her eyes as she had heard the same story from Ivy for the past two years. However, before she could call Ivy out for her hypocrisy Jonathan appeared at the top of the stairs ending the argument.

"I'm ready!" the five year old called out sweetly, warming his mother's heart.

"Grandpa and I will see you really soon", Ivy said as she hugged Jonathan tightly before reluctantly releasing him to his mother.

"Come on sweetie", Gwen cooed and picked him up. "We're going to have a great time this weekend."

After grabbing her son's bag, Gwen turned to fixed Ivy with another cold stare before leaving. After securing her son in his car seat, she climbed inside her BMW and pulled out her cell phone. The blonde hesitated briefly before dialing a familiar number; she'd had enough of Ivy Crane Bennet. The bitch had to be taken down a notch.

…

Endora Lennox Crane had grown up beautifully over the past five years, from a precious little witch into a bright young girl. After it was publicly known that she was Julian's daughter, Tabitha had reluctantly allowed her to spend more time with the Cranes. While Endora still missed her brother Fox terribly, she had taken a shine to her sister Fancy. She was spending the week with her big sister at Crane Industries while her mother was at the annual witches retreat to look into ways to get her power back. The little witch had pouted endlessly about being left behind. However, she did like spending time with Fancy modeling her clothes and her father's house was amazing.

Despite the fun she was having Endora was worried. About two years ago, she had felt a strange occurrence in the magical world, something extremely powerful was moving around. The little witch had repeatedly tried to warn her mother and Kay that something was going on but she had been ignored. Without her own magical power, Tabitha had very few ways to verify Endora's claims. Added to the fact that the claims always seemed to come when it was time for bed or homework. Despite the doubts of the others, Endora Lennox Crane knew something with powerful magic was out there and it was closer than they knew.

…..

Charity Standish could not believe that she was back in New England after living down south for so many years. She'd gone to college and become an elementary school teacher, a career that fit her well. Charity was proud of the life she had built for herself and she knew her mother would be proud as well. After leaving Harmony the last time, the blonde had sworn she would never come back but in the last 3 years her life had changed in a way she had never imagined.

A few months back she had been offered a full time teaching position at Harrison Elementary School in Castleton, New England. The position came with a generous salary, and a fully furnished house. The strange thing about the offer was that Charity had never applied for the job, the notice of the offer simply stated that her name had been mentioned as an excellent candidate for the position.

A woman in the position Charity now found herself could not afford to ask many questions. She was just thankful for everything the position came with, even if it did mean living dangerously close to Miguel. The blonde shook away the thoughts of her first love and began the long day of moving into her new home. Hours later after the movers had finished moving and setting up the house for her, Charity plopped down on the couch completely worn out. There was no rest for the weary however, because soon a crying sound filled the modest home. Charity hustled upstairs to find her two-year-old sitting up in his bed, awakened by a bad dream.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" she cooed lifting him from his bed. She rocked him back and forth until he fell back asleep.

She carried him into her own room and prepared for bed all the while admiring her son. His sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes made him the perfect blend of both his parents.

"Elijah Miguel Standish, I'll always keep you safe", she whispered and the two fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Theresa & Ethan lay basking in the glow of their love making the lawyers' thoughts turned to their children, more specifically Gwen's' request for more time with Jonathan & how to bring it up to his wife.

"Ethan", Theresa said breaking the silence. "Where you serious about having more children?"

"Of course I was," he said surprised she had asked. "Life has been so peaceful for the past few years & the business is doing well. Now would be the perfect time to bring another baby into our lives."

"Maybe you're right", his wife said thoughtfully. "It's been a while since we've had a baby in the house. Johnny's growing up so fast he hardly lets me hold him anymore."

Ethan sighed at the mention of his youngest son.

"Speaking of Johnny, Gwen called today & she wants more time with him," he said softly.

Theresa snuggled up to her husband & sat quietly for a moment.

"How much more time?" she finally asked.

"She wants him during the week and we'll have him on the weekends."

The brunette shot up like a rocket. "What!"

Ethan held up a hand to stop his wife before she completely lost it.

"I told her absolutely not but that I'd think about changing the agreement to every weekend." the lawyer said.

Theresa settled down at his response & sighed. It had been difficult for her when Gwen was released from prison. The first thing she did was come to claim her son but since she was an ex-con & Ethan & Theresa had raised him for 3 years they had no problem maintaining custody. Slowly they introduced Gwen into Johnathan's' life & eventually he had gotten comfortable with her. Although Theresa had raised Johnathan as her own for three years she knew that Gwen had been desperate for a child & would never let go of her only biological child. Going through a similar situation with her own daughter, she was somewhat sympathetic, if only Gwen had not tried to steal her own children she might've been more so.

"Tell me what's going on in that beautiful head of yours", Ethan asked giving her a kiss.

"I don't want to lose him Ethan", she whispered sadly.

"We won't honey", Ethan reassured her. "But Gwen is his biological mother and it's only natural for her to want more time with him."

"From the looks she keeps giving Jane, she wants more time with her too", Theresa snapped.

"Honey, what did the therapist say about grudges?" He chided her.

"Leave the past in the past and move forward," she said repeating the mantra she and Ethan learned in couple's therapy.

"That's my girl", he smiled & kissed her deeply. "My future is with you and all three of our children & nothing is ever going to change that."

...

Now that Noah Bennet owned the Blu Note, it had turned in to the place to be in Harmony on the weekends. Two of Noah's frequent customers were Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald and Whitney Russell-Harris. Knowing that the two young people were still hurting over the loss of their respective loves, their parents often watched their children on the weekends. However, the two often found themselves hanging out at Noah's talking about the old days.

"You know Miguel, I'm going to tell you like I always tell you, follow your heart. You may really regret it one day if you don't, Whitney said quietly continuing the same conversation they always had.

"I'm still married Whitney," the younger Lopez-Fitzgerald replied wearily as he sipped his drink.

"You know who you sound like? Whitney said.

"Ethan!" they said together and laughed loudly.

"Exactly" the tennis coach said still laughing. "and their lives were a never ending roller coaster until he finally followed his heart back to Theresa".

"That's different," Miguel said. "Theresa never gave up on Ethan, despite everything they went through. I chased Charity for years and she never fought for us, she never even told me what happened to make her leave in the first place."

Whitney sighed as she thought back on Miguel and Charity's relationship. The two had been so in love but it seemed like disaster followed them no matter what they did.

"Honestly honey, I can't help but think there's more to this than you know", she said. "This is Harmony after all who knows what may have been going on at the time."

Miguel shook his head not wanting to go down that road again; he'd been hurt too many times by Charity.

"Enough about me Whitney, you'd better hit the dance floor before it gets too late", Miguel said giving her a fake smile. She nodded taking the hint and hit the dance floor. Watching his lifelong friend unwind made the young man feel a little better.

He briefly let his thoughts drift back to his last heartbreaking encounter with Charity 3 years earlier.

He was sure that this time they'd finally found happiness and had decided to be together despite everything, including his marriage to Kay. But as always Charity disappeared yet again leaving him heartbroken and confused. Miguel shook off these bleak thoughts and decided to go home; he still legally had a wife. He downed the rest of his drink and wave goodbye to Whitney who was dancing with a familiar looking guy. She deserved happiness, they both did.

...

As a stretch limousine cruised through the streets of Castleton, the woman inside released a heavy sigh. Years ago, she left this horrid place and its neighboring town and vowed to never come back. Unfortunately, the ties of blood she had here were stronger than any vow she ever made. When she received the call from her upset daughter, she had decided that enough was enough. The residents of Harmony, especially Ivy Crane Bennet and her son, were no longer going to cause her daughter undue pain. It was time for Gwendolyn Hotchkiss to get back everything she had lost, and her mother would let no one stand in the way of that.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Simone Russell made the final rounds of her Sunday shift at the Harmony Hospital she couldn't help but smile, she was actually satisfied with her life now. Of course she'd been hesitant to return to Harmony after all the that had happened, but after losing her father the young woman found it increasingly difficult to remain in New Orleans. Being near her mother, sister, niece & nephew made her feel less lonely & her career also gave her a sense of fulfillment. And While she still wasn't 100 percent approving of her mothers' marriage to Julian Crane she couldn't deny how much happier they both seemed. Actually almost everyone in Harmony seemed happier and more settled than they'd ever been. Simone sighed feeling the guilt swell up inside her, if anyone found out what she was really up to Harmony's supposed happiness would end quicker than a summer shower.

...

"Way to go Marty!" Sheridan Crane yelled as she leaped from the bleachers.

Pride swelled in her heart as she watched her baby boy knock one out of the park. Gwen laughed at her best friends antics and hugged Jonathan close. "Woohoos" & "Yay Martys!" came from the other mother and son but Sheridan paid them no mind. She was already on her way to the field to congratulate her son for his game winning run. She was in such a rush that she only had eyes for her son and ran smack into Luis trying to get to him.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry L-" she began before he scooped her in a bear hug and twirled her around.

"Did you see him Sheridan? Oh man what a hit!" Luis burst with excitement after setting Sheridan down.

"Of course I did", the heiress laughed at Luis' antics. "We've got a pretty amazing son don't we?"

Luis smiled back at her and the blonde was sure her heart was going to leap from her chest.

"We sure do."

The two turned to watch their only child celebrating with his teammates and smiled. They were still standing that way when Pilar and Jane walked up to them.

"Tio Luis!" Jane yelled and Luis scooped up the little girl.

"Hey sweetie your mama actually let you out of her sight today?" the police officer asked.

"Yeah" she said hopping down and placing her hands on her hips. "I wanted to stay with abuela and play with Maria but she left today to visit her Aunt Jessica in Texas."

Sheridan smiled as she watched Jane & Luis interaction, she'd always wanted a daughter. If things hadn't gone so wrong back then maybe... Sheridan shook her head and willed the thoughts away. It was too late for her and Luis now. She looked up at and found him staring right at her. Was he thinking the same thing?

"Sheridan!" a voice called out breaking her thoughts.

The blonde turned to see Gwen and Jonathan heading towards them. She quickly turned to give Pilar and Luis a pointed stare warning them not to make a scene at Marty's game.

"Johnny!" Jane yelled having spotted her younger brother.

Before anyone could intervene, the girl had already rushed up to him & Gwen.

"I hope you're coming back to abuela's soon because I'm bored", the little girl fussed at her younger brother before noticing the woman he was with.

"Hey sweetie", Gwen said surprised at how much the little girl had grown up. Was this really the little girl she had fought so hard for so long ago?

"Hi, are you Johnnys' other mom?" she asked shocking Gwen.

"Jane!" Pilar and Luis yelled in unison.

The Lopez-Fitzgerald's were no longer able to control their tempers. Despite the number of years that had passed, Gwen's long and dirty war with Theresa had not been forgotten. They'd all agreed with Ethan to be cordial and leave the past in the past for Johnny sake but this was pushing it.

"Coming!" she yelled back to her family. "Bye! Come to abuela's soon Johnny!"

As Gwen watched, the little girl skip back to Pilar and Luis she felt her heart tighten. She picked up her Jonathan and followed so she could talk to Sheridan.

"Hey Aunt Gwen, hey Johnny!" Marty called as he came up behind her.

"Congratulations!" She said as he tried to hug her. "Don't you dare put your sweaty arms on me Martin!"

"Marty!" Sheridan scolded as her son gave chase after Gwen and a laughing Jonathan.

"Come on son!" Luis called trying to conceal his annoyance. "We're taking you out for pizza!"

"Woohoo!" he yelled abandoning his chase at the mention of food. "Pizza with Mom & Pop & I'm taking Moms car!"

"No!" came the resounding shout from his parents as Marty raced ahead to the parking lot.

"Ai!" Pilar said laughing at her grandson as she and Jane prepared to leave. "You two sure have your hands full".

"And we're glad for it every day", Sheridan smiled and began to follow her son. "We'll meet you at the pizza place Luis"

"Oh no", Luis said grabbing her arm. "Last time he almost convinced you to let him drive. We'll all go together."

"O-okay", Sheridan stammered as he pulled her along after their son.

Looking back, she gave Gwen and Pilar an awkward wave with her free hand. Pilar raised her eyebrows while Gwen winked at her best friend. There was no doubt in her mind that those two belonged together.

...

Later that evening Gwen and Jonathan were at their favorite ice cream shop in Castleton. Gwen always brought him there, before she returned him to his father, it was their special place. Tonight though they had another guest, Rebecca Hotchkiss. Though she had long since lost interest in the little town of Harmony and its residents she adored her only grandchild and spoiled him at every opportunity. She longed for Gwen to gain full custody of him so they could all leave this pitiful little place behind. All she needed was a little leverage to force Ethan and Theresa to sign him over to Gwen but what? Having finally snagged Ethan, the bug-eyed tramp no longer needed to scheme or keep secrets. Ethan was such a goody two shoes he'd never had a secret. Who did that leave?

"Mother" Gwen called snapping the redhead out of her thoughts. "Did you even hear me I said I saw Jane today?"

"Gwennie", Rebecca sighed having heard this before. "I know you still care about her but you've no legal claim to her. You gave that up when you divorced Ethan the first time."

"You know I left to keep Jonathan safe", Gwen snapped. "I never wanted to leave Jane behind. "

"I know honey but now that Theresa has her she's never going to let you within 10 feet of her." Rebecca said soothingly. "You've got to focus on getting full custody Jonathan right now and Jane later."

Gwen nodded and kissed her son who'd fallen asleep in her lap after finishing his ice cream.

"You know honey", the redhead said gently. "If you'd get Ethan back then you'd have all the children."

"Mother", Gwen growled tightly. "I will not tell you again that I'm done with Ethan! Everything I've been through, everything I've lost, my children! It's as much his fault as Theresa's!"

"Okay okay!" Rebecca said holding up her hands in defeat. "Calm down, you don't want to wake Jonathan."

"I know" the blonde said looking down at her son. She changed the subject by telling her mother about the baseball game earlier that day.

Rebecca however had tuned her out because someone in the ice cream shop had caught her eye. It couldn't be? she thought as she got up to follow the person with the stroller.

"Mother where are you going?", Gwen asked failing to notice what had captured her mother's attention.

The redhead ignored her daughter and all but ran out the door. The person with the stroller noticed Rebecca behind then and tried to pick up their speed but she gave chase.

"Stop!" she yelled and the woman froze in her tracks. "I know who you are!"

Rebecca struggled to catch her breath as she approached the young woman and pulled off her sunshades.

"Charity Standish!" she said stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"Mama!" a voice cried out from the stroller before Charity could answer.

The redhead looked down and gasped, there was no mistaking those big brown eyes. As she looked up at the terrified expression on Charity's face and Rebecca Hotchkiss knew she had her secret.


	6. Chapter 6

As Gwen Hotchkiss and a newly awakened Jonanthan grabbed their ice cream cones and left the restaurant the blonde was in a huff. How rude of her mother to run out on their ice cream date. Rebecca only saw Jonathan a few times a month; she could at least sit through ice cream.

"Mother!" Gwen called spotting her mother alone near the parking lot.

"Meme", Jonathan called sleepily. "You left your ice cream."

"Oh I'm sorry darling", Rebecca said kissing her grandsons cheeks. "But very soon we'll all go to a place where we can have ice cream and toys every day."

"Really?" the little boy asked bouncing up and down. "Can we go now Mama?"

"We'll talk about it later sweetheart", Gwen said while scowling at her mother.

"What was that about", she whispered tightly to her mother as the trio headed back to the ice cream shop.

"Well darling, I just ran into a former Harmony resident with a very interesting secret." Rebecca whispered back so her grandson couldn't overhear. "A secret that's going to help you get full custody of your son."

A stunned Gwen stopped in her tracks dropping her ice cream cone on the ground.

"What!?"

..

Meanwhile, Sam and Ivy Bennet were enjoying a quiet evening at home. Ivy had been trying for a while to convince Sam that they should buy the Book Cafe. Their grandchildren were growing up and they needed a safe place to hang out, and it would give his wife something else to do.

"We'll have to see if it's even for sale Ivy" Sam said as they snuggled on the couch. "Even if it is, are you sure you're going to be up to running it?"

"Of course I will honey," she said a little indignantly. "And I'm sure the boys will be happy to help".

"Really?" Her husband asked skeptically. "All those boys think about is playing ball and pretty soon it'll be girls."

"Well Miles & Little Ethan will be in high school soon & Marty's already in 9th grade." Ivy said. "We'll just have to convince their parents of the importance of summer jobs."

The chief of police laughed. "I'm sure that'll be a breeze since they all had summer jobs themselves."

"I'm glad our lives have become this simple Sam." The blonde sighed happily. "Where our biggest problems are summer jobs for the kids in town."

"Me too", he said and kissed her forehead. "No more secrets in Harmony."

At her husbands' words Ivy's face fell and she struggled to keep her composure. "Right"...  
...

At Crane Industries, Fancy Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald sat at her desk overseeing the latest accessory designs for her Crane Couture line. She checked her Rolex watch and noticed the hour was inching towards midnight.

Maybe I'll just stay up at the Mansion tonight she thought.

She found herself doing that more and more lately & Luis rarely complained. Her father, now blissfully happy in his own marriage, had left her several messages urging her to go home to her husband. However, it was much easier for Fancy to crash in her old wing of the Mansion rather than face the problems in her marriage.

After the accident, Fancy no longer had the heart to continue with her career as a police officer. She couldn't even hear sirens without thinking of that fateful day she'd lost her future. Luis said he understood but the blonde couldn't help but feel he'd lost respect for her after she went back to Crane. After that he'd began to go on more and more undercover missions and disappeared for days and weeks at a time and the emotional gap between them widened even further.

Fancy sighed as the large clock in her office struck midnight. How had her happily ever after turned into such a mess?  
...

Officer Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald Bennet was finally off duty. The young woman sighed with relief at having a couple hours of freedom. While she enjoyed her job, Paloma had started to feel like her life had become so routine, it lacked the excitement & passion it had when she was younger. As the brunette turned on her car and prepared to leave the Harmony Police Station, she went through a mental checklist of things she needed to do.

Checking on her son was number one. She also needed to do laundry, go grocery shopping and check on her doting but increasingly boring husband. Paloma felt a rush of guilt as she realized she wasn't going to do any of the above especially since the dark haired beauty knew Joseph was safe with her mother. She shrugged away the feelings of guilt and headed toward the New Harmony Heights apartment complex. Paloma was going to see her lover.

Next Time on Passions: Old friends have some much needed heart to hearts, archrivals finally meet and the secrets and secret desires swirling around Harmony increase. Tune in to the next episode of Passions!


	7. Chapter 7

A month later, Whitney & Theresa were catching up over lunch at the new restaurant Voila!.

"So how was the latest date", Theresa asked excitedly. "Tell me everything!"

"What can I say Theresa? It was great." Her best friend said with a smile. "Just like the others."

The mother of three frowned at her friends' lack of excitement.

"The sparks just not there is it Whit?" she questioned quietly.

"No, Ryan's a really great guy. But there nothing there", the tennis coach said as their orders came. "I wonder if I'll ever feel anything with anyone other than Chad."

"You will", Theresa said squeezing her best friend's hands. "Just think, I could've been with Jared right now if Ethan & I hadn't worked out.

Whitney almost choked on her drink.

"What?" she said in disbelief. "Honey, anyone with eyes could see that you were always desperately in love with Ethan. You never would've been happy with Jared and Ethan would've never let you go."

"That's true," Theresa said thoughtfully. "He was still a really great guy though & he deserved a lot better than what he got."

"I can't argue with that", Whitney said as she dug into her salad. "But don't beat yourself up I saw him last weekend and he seems to be doing fine."

"Really Jared's back in Harmony?" the brunette questioned her friend.

"I'm not sure but he was at the Blu Note with his brother. I danced with him several times before I even noticed it was him." Whitney laughed until she noticed her best friends stare. "What?"

"Oh nothing", Theresa said sweetly as a plot formulated in her mind.

...

Across the restaurant, Sheridan & Gwen were also enjoying lunch unnoticed by Whitney and Theresa.

"I'm so glad this week has finally rolled around I can't wait to see my baby this weekend." Gwen said. "I finally got him the puppy he wanted & I can't wait to see his face!"

"That's great Gwen", Sheridan said happy to see her friend enjoying motherhood.

Gwen had been through hell and back as far as children were concerned. She deserved more time with her son and Sheridan had made a point of telling Ethan as much.

"Sheridan did you hear me?" Gwen asked wondering why Sheridan had been so spacey lately.

"I'm sorry Gwen", she replied and took a sip of her wine.

"I asked if Luis ever told you what he needed to talk to you about." Gwen repeated herself.

"No", the heiress shrugged. "Every time I bring it up he says it's not important."

"Sheridan", Gwen began. "You two really need to talk. I mean honestly, who are you fooling? It's obvious that you're still in love with Luis & I'm sure he feels the same way. What you guys had is a once in a lifetime kind of love. You're wasting precious time pretending that you're over each other, time that you could be spending together."

"Gwen please, the key word in that statement is had" Sheridan said somewhat shocked by her friends' outburst." It's been such a long time & everyone is all settled now maybe it's best not to..."

"And who exactly is settled Sheridan?" Gwen interrupted. "Certainly not Luis and Fancy, who barely see each have been all but over since the accident. You and Antonio clearly aren't together he left town months ago, and I'm willing to bet Luis doesn't even know about that does he?"

The Crane heiress sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Leave it to Gwen to call her out about things.

"Exactly," Gwen said as she sipped her wine. "Go to Luis, Sheridan and fix this mess while you can. No more being noble and putting everyone else's needs ahead of your own."

Sheridan sighed again and signaled for the waiter bring her more wine.

"Marty's sleeping over with friends this weekend I'll try to talk to him them," Sheridan decided. "Now what's going on that has you so fired up? I haven't seen this Gwen in a long time."

Gwen swirled her glass and stared at her best friend trying to decide how much to tell her. Finally, she decided if she couldn't trust Sheridan who could she trust?

"Mother has a plan to get full custody of Jonathan and you're not going to believe this but..."

...

Ivy Crane Bennett sighed with irritation as she hung up the phone. Her stepdaughter Kay had called from Texas demanding to speak to her father. After being told that he was checking out what work needed to be done at the Book Cafe that they had recently bought, she'd promptly hung up on Ivy. No worries, the beautiful blonde thought. Kay would get her just deserts sooner rather than later. Ivy had been thrilled to receive word that Charity had accepted the teaching job at Harrison Elementary in Castleton. The school had been named for Ivy's father, the former governor of New England, & she still had lots of pull.

However, even she was surprised when her sources reported to her that Charity had arrived with a little boy, a boy who bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain Lopez-Fitzgerald. Oh, it was all just too good to be true. Ivy irritation turned to delight and she smiled as she gathered her belongings and headed out to the Book Cafe to help her husband. Everything was going according to plan.

...

Miguel Lopez Fitzgerald sighed wearily as he climbed inside his truck. In the past 5 years, Miguel had started a very successful landscaping business and while he loved, being at the forefront the work was often tiring. This week he and his crew were working in Castleton and he headed to the last stop the Castleton Community Daycare Center. After arriving the young man smiled as the teacher ushered the small children back inside. Miguel smiled again as a little brown hair boy waved at him. The boy was so bright and happy it was infectious & made him think of his own daughter who was in Texas.

Kay was disappointed with the state of their marriage and had decided to go visit Jessica in Texas over a month ago. He was disappointed too but he didn't know what to do. Miguel had thought about divorce but he knew Kay would never agree. She wanted Maria to have a family. But what kind of family was she growing up with if her parents were so unhappy? The problem as always was that he simply couldn't stop loving Charity, and if a marriage and a child couldn't change that what could?

...

Sheridan Crane sighed with relief as she plopped down on her sofa. After her lunch with Gwen, Sheridan had done some grocery shopping & housekeeping. Although she'd grown up a Crane & had plenty of money to have a housekeeper come daily, she enjoyed taking care of her son & their dogs herself. Gwen's advice about Luis flashed across her mind as she picked up Marty's shoes from the sofa.

"That boy" she huffed when she heard a knock at the door.

Maybe it's Ethan, the blonde thought as she hustled to the door.

She was more than surprised to see Luis at the door.

"Well are you gonna let me in Sheridan?" he asked after standing at the door for a few minutes.

"S-sure" the embarrassed heiress stammered. "Come in and sit down."

"I got Marty's baseball pants cleaned and decided to bring them by" Luis said sitting down with the package. "Where is he anyway?"

"He's at math camp then he's staying over at Will's until the game tomorrow." Sheridan said ignoring the look Luis was giving her.

"Math camp?" Luis scoffed. "Sheridan, its summer he should be practicing his swing, not his math!"

"He had a C+ last year and if doesn't improve there'll be no swinging at all this spring!" Sheridan glared as she sat down next to him.

"What!" The police agent yelled. "Let's not be hasty now. I promise to help him with it every night if I have to but he's staying on that team! If he doesn't go pro who else is going to provide for me in my old age?"

Sheridan couldn't stay serious when Luis got like this and burst into laughter. He started laughing too and threw his arm around her. Sheridan smiled at the gesture and began to reflect on how their son had grown up so much past few years.

"What are you thinking Sheridan?" he asked when she got a little too quiet.

"Luis I'm just thinking about our son & how lucky we are to have him," she said feeling herself growing teary and hurried to wipe them away.

"Hey it's okay," Luis said gathering her into his arms and letting her cry. "I don't know anyone else in the world who's been through everything we have."

"Except maybe Ethan and Theresa" Sheridan laughed shakily as she pulled herself from his embrace.

The two sat in silence for a long time before Luis finally asked the question that had plagued them both for 5 years.

"What happened to us Sheridan?"

The both sat in silence, stunned that the question had finally been asked.

"Do you know how many times I've asked myself that question Luis?" Sheridan whispered as she began to cry again. "We just made so many mistakes and it seemed like everything was against us from my father and brother to Beth. I think what really broke us was losing Marty after that we could never really trust each other again. Then Fancy and Chris came into the picture and the rest is history."

"I should've believed you way back then when you said he was yours", he murmured sadly putting his head in hands Things never would've gotten this far if I had"

"No Luis, don't blame yourself for this," she said grabbing his hands. "The first DNA said Marty was Beth's and even I thought I was losing my mind. When it was finally proven that he was mine, the train explosion happened, and we thought we lost him. I just didn't know how to forgive you for that. I blamed you for so long and I'm sorry Luis."

"Sheridan," he said crying softly as he gathered the now sobbing woman in his arms.

"I pushed you to Fancy because I thought she could give you what I couldn't" the blonde cried "All I ever wanted was to be a family with you and our baby Luis. How did we get here?"

The hardened officer found he couldn't stop his own tears as he thought about all they had meant to each other over the years. All the years they'd spent fighting against the odds and sometimes even each other to be together. Luis thought about the years they'd been kept apart by pride and obligations to other people. But he was done with pride, done with doing what other people thought was right. He looked down at the devastated woman struggling to pull herself together after releasing years of pent up emotions.

"What are we going to do Luis?" she cried. "Is it really too late?"

"It's never too late", Luis said as he kissed her forehead. "From now on I'm going to follow my heart what are you going to do Sheridan?

The blonde took a few more minutes to pull herself together as she thought back on Gwen's words. Sheridan sniffed one last time and wiped away her tears, then she leaned in a kissed the only man she'd ever truly loved.

Next on Passions: What's Theresa plotting? Now that Sheridan and Luis have acted on their feelings what happens next? Whose is Paloma's lover? Will Miguel ever find out about his son?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mr. and Mrs. Crane were exhausted the next morning as they made their way through the Crane Mansion to their room. They'd been in New York for a week on Crane business and while Eve hated to leave the hospital, she knew Julian needed her for appearance sake.

"I really think I should check in at the hospital today Julian", Eve said as she took off her shoes and jewelry.

"Absolutely not darling", Julian said as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "It's been a tiring week and you should relax for the rest of the day. I'm sure Simone would call if there was trouble."

Julian waked around there massive bedroom changing his clothes.

"It was so nice having her for dinner the other week."

Eve smiled as she went to change into more comfortable clothing as well. That was the third time this week Julian had mentioned Simone coming over. The doctor was happy her youngest daughter was finally coming around to the idea of her and Julian, and it seemed he was happy too. While the doctor was glad to have peace and happiness in her own life, she was worried about her daughters. Simone hadn't dated anyone seriously since Rae & Whitney hadn't settled down since Chad's death either.

"What's wrong", Julian asked noticing his wife was staring off into space.

"I'm just worried about the girls." she sighed.

"Yours or mine?" He said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Well I'm worried about Fancy too but I meant my girls", She said.

"They've all been through a lot", he said kissing her shoulders. "God knows everyone in this town has. However, you've got to trust that everything will work out the way it's supposed to. "

"Did you believe that through all the hell we went through?", the doctor asked.

"No", he answered honestly. But I hoped it would".

"I'm glad it did Julian." Eve turned to face her husband and kissed him deeply. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me either darling."

…..

Sheridan awoke the next morning to find herself in bed alone. She looked around her bedroom but found no sign of Luis and she sighed heavily. The heiress wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that it was apparently all just a dream. What an amazing dream it was, she smiled sleepily.

She let out a gasp as her bathroom door opened and a naked Luis walked out. The police officer was clad in only a towel and Sheridan blushed from the roots of her blonde hair to her toes at what she'd just been thinking.

"What", he said drying his hands and staring at the bright red woman. "You didn't think I'd run out on you after last night did you?"

Sheridan could only blush deeper at the sight of him. So it wasn't a dream.

"Why aren't you saying anything Sheridan", Luis said as he got back into bed with her. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts?"

"No of course not, she finally spoke. "It's just hard for me to believe this isn't just one of my dreams."

"It's not a dream Sheridan," Luis said as he leaned in & kissed her forehead. "I know we've got a long road ahead but don't worry everything will work. I promise it's just you, me, and our son from now on."

"I'm with you", the blonde said as her thought turned to Marty. "I need to call and check on him."

"Later" Luis growled as he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

Sheridan flushed as he began to kiss her neck.

"Luis" she moaned. "I've missed you so much."

He trailed kisses from her neck up to her ear.

"Show me", he whispered as he pulled the covers over them.

...

Several hours later Luis and Sheridan were still in bed.

"We've got to get up Luis", the blonde said to her dozing lover. "Marty's game is in a few hours!"

"Then wake me in a few hours", he growled rolling over.

"No Luis you have to go so we can arrive separately." Sheridan giggled as she wrapped her arms around him

"I don't want to sneak around Sheridan", the police officer said tightly.

"Neither do I Luis, she said kissing his back she felt a wave of guilt come over her. "It's just until you explain everything to Fancy sweetheart."

Luis turned around to face Sheridan and felt his anger melt away as he took in her glowing face. The face of the woman his heart had always belonged to.

"I'll talk with her soon and I'll be back here permanently", he said staring into her eyes.

"Please be gentle with her Luis", she said as he kissed her.

"You know I will", He said thinking of the good times he'd spent with Fancy. "I don't want to hurt her or anyone else but we can't being miserable just to keep other people happy."

The two laid quietly in each other's arms enjoying what they had both missed for so long.

"One more time? "Sheridan asked as she checked her watch.

Luis smirked as he held up two fingers and pulled the covers over them again.

...

By midafternoon, the sun was shining brightly and Gwen Hotchkiss and her son were enjoying a day at the park. As anticipated, the little boy loved the puppy his mother had gotten him & decided to call him Dory after his favorite movie.

Gwen was laughing as little Dory & Jonathan ran circles around each other. She knew they would both be ready for a nap soon. After Sheridan had spoken to Ethan, their custody agreement had changed to every weekend and Gwen enjoyed every moment she had with her little boy. Internally though, the blonde was at a crossroads about her mother's plan.

While she desperately wanted full custody of her son, life had cruelly taught her that secrets always come out and everything has a price. She didn't want to risk losing Jonathan again. Not to mention that Sheridan was firmly against the plan and hated the thought that Miguel might have a son he didn't know about.

"What a beautiful sound", a voice said startling the blonde beauty.

She looked up to see a shirtless runner with sandy blonde hair and the most piercing green eyes she'd ever seen.

"Um thank you", Gwen said trying not to blush.

"I'm Travis and you are", he said with a shy smile.

"Gwen", she said as her son and Dory ran back to her. "and this is my son Jonathan."

"Ah, this must be the reason for that beautiful laughter", He said smiling at Jonathan. "I'd love to hear it again."

He is so forward Gwen thought as she found herself giving him her number.

"I'm not usually this forward", Travis said as if reading her mind. "But I'm new here & my brother said the only way to make friends is to talk to people right?"

"Well your brother's right about that, she said with a smile.

His beeping watch broke the silence.

"Sorry I've got to go", Travis said apologetically. "But I'll be in touch. Maybe I can be the reason for that laugh next time."

Gwen found herself laughing as he jogged away.

"See it's already happening!" he yelled back as he jogged away.

He seems nice but I do not have time for a relationship she thought as she, Jonathan & Dory left the park.

"What are we doing next guys", she asked looking at the boys in the back seat. Gwen couldn't help but smile as she saw Jonathan and Dory both fast asleep.

...

At the Winthrop household, Theresa sighed with disappointment as she held another negative pregnancy test in her hands. Since Ethan had mentioned having another child, they had been trying for a month to no avail. She came from the bathroom and shared the unhappy news with her waiting husband.

"Well honey, maybe now just isn't a good time", he said as he took her into his arms. "Don't be too disappointed."

"Yeah", she said struggling to hide her disappointment. "Hey guess who Whitney saw at the Blu Note the other weekend," she said changing the subject.

"Who?" Ethan asked.

"Jared Casey!" the brunette exclaimed, "Did you know he has a brother?"

Ethan frowned, he did not like where this was going.

"Jared's back in town?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm not sure", Theresa murmured failing to notice her husband's growing irritation. "But if he is and his brother's here…maybe I can set one of them up with Whitney!

"Absolutely not", the lawyer snapped.

"But Ethan it'll work out great-"

"Absolutely not! He thundered again cutting her off. "I don't want you within a hundred feet of Jared Casey, Theresa!"

"Relax Ethan!" she exclaimed shocked by his outburst. "You know I'm not interested in Jared. I was just thinking that-"

"I know honey & I trust you," he said apologetically. "I just don't trust him & don't want him in our lives."

Actually, it sounds like it's me you don't trust me Ethan" Theresa snapped and stormed back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

"Damn it Theresa!" her husband snapped jiggling the bathroom door. "Just think about it from my end. Wouldn't you be upset if I was hanging around Gwen playing matchmaker like we'd never been together?"

"I trust you Ethan I know you would never cheat on me", she yelled through the door. "Honey I trust you too" he replied softly "but are you really telling me you'd be comfortable with it? Really?"

Theresa sighed as the rationality of her husband's question hit her. She opened the door and faced him.

"No I wouldn't", she said sullenly. "But you still should've listened to what I was saying before cutting me off."

"Hey," he said cupping her chin." I am sorry for flying off the handle. I know you were only thinking about Whitney"

She leaned in and hugged him. "I guess it's cute that you still get jealous. Guess that means I still got it huh."

."You had it from the moment I laid eyes on you," Ethan laughed as the two shared a kiss.

"Eww!"

The couple looked to see their frowning son and laughing daughter looking right at them.

"Where'd you guys come from", Theresa laughed as she reached for her little girl.

"Can you two stop being gross so we can go to Marty's game", Little Ethan grumbled and turn to head back down stairs.

"And there goes our next adventure" his father said as he grabbed his wife & daughter by their hands.

"Raising a teenager," the brunette whined as they all headed down stairs.

...

Pilar Lopez Fitzgerald was extremely irritated. There wasn't much her grown children could do to get under her skin these days but her youngest child was really pushing it. It had been three days and the police officer hadn't come to pick up her son yet. Maria had been in Texas for over a month & Jane rarely stayed over without her partner in crime.

More importantly, the matriarch felt Paloma needed to spend more time with her son & she wasn't buying the excuses of her always working or being tired. So Pilar decided to leave Joseph at Sam & Ivy's and go see what her daughter was really up to. After stopping by the police station, she was surprised to see that her daughter had been off duty for the past two days!

Furious Pilar decided to look for her daughter at her house, she slowed down as she neared the lane and was surprised to see Paloma laughing as she hopped in her car. Even more surprising was the fact that Paloma was dressed in a halter-top and shorts like a teenager. Pilar ducked down as Paloma passed by hoping she hadn't been seen. This is ridiculous she thought and she whipped out her phone and called her daughter. The phone rang twice before it went to voicemail, Paloma had ignored her call! The mother of five quickly restarted her car & took off in the direction her daughter had gone.

Aye Mija I hope you aren't in any trouble, she thought as she followed her daughter to Harmony Heights. The Lopez Fitzgerald matriarch was relieved when she pulled into the parking lot not too far behind her daughter.

How could I have forgotten that Simone lives here! She chuckled at her own antics. I now see where Theresa gets it from.

She watched as Paloma moved from her car into the passenger seat of Simone's white Altima. Pilars laughter turned into an uneasy chuckle as she watched Simone kiss Paloma's cheek. Her chuckle turned into a full-throated gasp as Paloma turned and kissed Simone full on her mouth, a deep passionate kiss. Pilar put a hand to her mouth to stop the scream that threatened to erupt.

"Oh no mija!" She cried as she started her car and pulled away unseen. Pilar tried to calm herself down as she decided what to do. What was Paloma thinking! What about Noah & Joseph? Was she a lesbian?  
The tears rolled down Pilar's cheeks as she speed toward her new destination. There was only one person who could keep a secret like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time on Passions: What will Pilar do with now that she knows Paloma's shocking secret? Will Luis be able to break the news to Fancy or will Sheridan end up heartbroken again? What are the Bennet sisters up to in Texas? What is Rebecca plotting? Tune into the next episode of Passions!


	9. Chapter 9

Julian Crane sighed as he walked toward the wing of the Mansion reserved for Crane Couture. As the acting head of the Crane Empire, Julian couldn't deny that he was happy with the way the division was running. After all it had blossomed into an empire all it's own and the money it was bringing in was astounding. The line even rivaled Gucci as the top designer brand. Fancy was coming into her own as a business woman and with Fox dead & Pretty & Vincent unstable, she, Endora, Sheridan & Marty were the only recognized heirs to the Crane empire. Reasonably he wanted his daughter to run the empire after he was gone but he also wanted her to enjoy her life and have children. He frowned as he walked into his daughter's office.

"Fancy Elizabeth Crane what are you doing here?" Julian asked wearily.

The beautiful businesswoman rolled her eyes at the sight of her father and continued working on her designs.

"Father if you're here to lecture me please don't", she said. "As you can see I'm busying work on the grand opening of Crane Couture in Paris. I don't need any distractions."

"Having a life and a family isn't a distraction Fancy", the businessman sighed.

"I lost my family 4 years ago Dad," Fancy snapped bitterly.

Her father visibly bristled at her harsh tone.

"You still have a husband Fancy, don't waste your youth here. They'll be plenty of time for you to run Crane after I'm gone."

Silence was his daughters reply as she continued sketching.

"Very well darling", Julian said straightening his tie. "Since fatherly advice won't work let's try threats."

Fancy raised her eyebrows. Since finally winning the love of his life, her father had unquestionably changed for the better, it'd been a years since the heiress had heard this tone.

"Yes Fancy, I said threats & Eve's not around to hear me", Julian said looking over his shoulder. "Since I thought you'd refuse to listen to me I've taken the liberty of calling your mother to deal with the situation."

Fancy visibly stiffened at the mention of her mother. While their relationship had improved tremendously over the years. The thought of an angry Ivy Crane could still strike fear in her heart like few others.

"Yes dear, your mother will be here shortly and there's no time for you to escape", he said noticing her rising panic. "So don't even try"

"Father I don't need my parents interfering in my life" the blonde snapped. "I'm an adult!"

"Then goddamnit act like it!" Julian roared finally losing his temper. "We're sorry about that accident, even more so that you lost the child but you can't keep holding onto this bitterness. It is eating you alive Fancy! Now it's time for you to either fix your marriage or end it & move on but I will not stand by and watch you torture yourself anymore!"

Fancy gasped stunned by her fathers' rare display of emotion. Before she could say anything, he turned and stormed out of the room.

"Father!" she yelled getting up to give chase but Julian Crane was gone.

By the time the Ivy heels clicked into the office the bitter facade Fancy had put up for the past few years was crumbling.

"Oh darling, everything's going to be fine", she said sympathetically as she sat next to her daughter. "I'm here".

Even Ivy was surprised as Fancy leaned into her arms and cried.

"I wish that were true Mother", was her daughters muffled reply.

Ivy simply stroked her daughters' hair as she cried.

"I know it's hard but trust me darling", she said. "It's better to keep our secrets to ourselves. Telling Luis the truth would only push him back to Sheridan. Trust me everything will work out fine."

...

Marty's summer baseball team was warming up to play one of their final games and as usual, the young man's family turned out in full to see him play. The Winthrop's, The Harris-Cranes, Gwen & Jonathan and of course Marty's parents were all at the baseball field watching the game.

"I wonder where mama is." Theresa said checking her watch. "She never misses Marty's home games."

"I'm sure she's fine Theresa", Whitney reassured her as she munched her popcorn. "She might've overslept."

Theresa stood up from the bleachers where they were sitting and looked around.

"I guess so"

"Hey mom we're going to get more popcorn", Miles yelled up to his mom.

"Ok sweetie", the tennis coach said ignoring her sons glare.

"We're going to have such fun embarrassing them huh Theresa".

The brunette laughed and relayed the story of her son walking in on her and Ethan earlier. She was so busy talking to her best friend that she failed to notice the urgent text messages from her mother.

…

Down closer to the field sat Gwen, Jonathan and Sheridan, who'd brought their own chairs.

"Why do you have on those shades Sheridan?" Gwen asked. "You don't usually wear them."

"Oh", Sheridan faked a cough. "Just a little tired & didn't want anyone to see my bags"

Gwen shifted a drowsy Jonathan on her lap & raised her a skeptical eyebrow at her best friend.

"If you're tired what's with the coughing?" she asked skeptically as she looked around for Luis.

The blonde noticed him standing much farther away than necessary, as soon as he saw her staring he turned away. Gwen frowned, something was up.

"Sheridan you wouldn't be keeping anything from me would you?" She asked turning her sharp gaze toward the heiress.

"Um of course not", Sheridan replied her eyes locked on the game. "Marty's up to bat!"

Gwen sat back and tried to enjoy the game while fielding text messages from Travis asking when they could get together. She occasionally got up to grab Jonathan snacks and go for bathroom breaks. All the while, she made sure to keep an eye on Sheridan and Luis and she made note of the way they steadfastly avoided one another. Oh, something was definitely up and the former businesswoman was determined to find the underlying cause of it.

...

Meanwhile,

Charity & Elijah Standish were on their way home from the movies when the blonde felt a strange pounding in her chest. Charity gripped the wheel tighter and willed it to go away. It had been happening often lately and though she had no idea, why it scared her senseless. It had first started after Rebecca Hotchkiss had recognized her at the ice cream shop. While the redhead had seemed polite asking simple questions, Charity knew how dangerous she could be and made sure to be careful. It happened again when she picked she'd up Elijah from daycare that Friday. The young teacher had had an uneasy feeling that someone was watching her & she'd been having the same feeling all weekend.

Maybe it's time to move again she thought. I hate to move Elijah around like Mom did me. But I have to do what is best for him. Oh, I wish I knew what to do. As she arrived home and put her son down for a nap, the blonde was almost in tears with frustration. After she and Miguel had found each other again almost 3 years ago and finally made love, she'd panicked.

Still remembering the deal she made with death to save Maria, she had fled not wanting any harm to come to the child. After discovering she was pregnant Charity had mixed feelings. She didn't want her son to grow up without a father but she couldn't risk Maria's life either. She would never be that selfish, she knew Miguel must hate her & that hurt more than anything. Nevertheless, she'd learn to live with it... she didn't have a choice.

...

Jessica Bennett McCoy sat rubbing her belly and watching TV with her niece and son Sammy. She had been surprised when Kay announced she and Maria were coming to visit almost two months ago but she was glad they had come. It have given her a chance to bond with her niece, who reminded her so much of her own mother.

"Come sit down with us Kay", she called to her sister who was staring at her phone.

Her sulky older sister did as she was asked.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked quietly not wanting to disturb Maria and Sammy.

"It's Miguel, we've been here for more than a month and he hasn't made any effort to get us to come home", Kay said.

Jessica sighed, as she hated the subject of her sisters' marriage.

"No tell me what you think", Kay said. "You're in happy marriage what should I do?"

The younger brunette considered how honest she should be with her sister. She was happily married to a wonderful man named Matthew McCoy and they were expecting a daughter but her marriage was a lot different from Kay's. Jessica and Matthews's relationship had been built slowly and on honesty and trust like her parents while Kay and Miguel's marriage had been built on betrayal and schemes similar to her Dad and Ivy's.

"Kay, I think you need to be honest with Miguel and with yourself. Be completely honest", Jessica finally said. "That includes telling him every bad thing you've ever done to keep him and Charity apart".

"What", the older brunette yelled. "Are you crazy, he'd never forgive me!"

"And that'll be his choice Kay, you need to make him feel like he's in charge of his own life", Jessica said. "Lay all the cards on the table and see what he does. He forgave you for what you did to our parents; maybe he will forgive you for the rest. Dad forgave Ivy didn't he and look how happy they are?"

Kay stiffened at the memory of her parents' marriage; to this day, she still felt a tremendous amount of guilt at the role she had played in ending it.

"And what if he doesn't", she whispered torn.

The two women moved their conversation into the kitchen away from the children.

"Then he just doesn't Kay", Jessica said grabbing her sisters hand. "But at least you won't be stuck in this limbo, drifting in a marriage, wondering if your husband loves you or not!"

"Miguel does loves me", Kay snapped as she snatched her hand away. "When he came back he fought so hard to be a family with me and Maria!"

"Was he fighting for you and Maria or was he fighting to convince himself that he was over Charity?" her younger sister asked softly.

Kay turned away and laughed bitterly." Charity, Charity, Charity it always comes back to her."

"I'm sorry okay, I'm not trying to hurt you", Jessica said hugging her sister. "Even after everything we've been through you know I just want you to be happy."

Miguel's wife returned the hug then pulled back and stared at her little sister.

"I'm really proud of you Jess, you pulled yourself together, got away from Harmony & made a really great life for yourself here in Texas," she said as she reached out and picked up a photo from the kitchen counter.

The photo feature a laughing Jessica, eyes closed as her husband kissed her cheek and a Sammy a young looking up at his parents.

"Your family is beautiful", Kay said replacing the picture.

She smiled as she rubbed Jessica's growing stomach.

"And now I have to go fix mine."

Jessica's face fell as Kay turned away and headed upstairs. Kay you will never have a happy family while your husband is in love with someone else. She thought. The pregnant woman sighed as she sent her husband a text message. If Kay was going back to Harmony, she and Sammy were too. Someone had to be there to clean up the train wreck that was surely coming.

...

Ivy Crane Bennett had had a day full of surprises. First Pilar dropped off Joseph with her and then she'd actually had a bonding moment with her daughter. While she was happy about being close with Fancy, she was also worried about her daughter. She still felt Fancy had done the right thing by keeping the secret about the accident between them. There was no need for Luis to know that Fancy could never have another child. Ivy shook off the sad thoughts and entered her home.

"Sam?" she called cheerfully as she walked into the house. "Are you home?"

Ivy felt her improving mood evaporate as she laid eyes on Rebecca Hotchkiss seated on her sofa.

"Afraid he's not here Ivy" Rebecca smiled as she fluffed her hair. "But I was waiting for him; I think we have some things to discuss"

The blonde felt her blood run cold as she flew over to Rebecca and snatched her off the chair.

"You stay the hell away from my husband," she yelled.

"Now now, Ivy no need for hostility," the redhead smirked as she removed the blondes hands. "I was only going to ask Sam if he knew how I could get in touch with his daughter. I ran across something in Castleton a few weeks ago that would absolutely rock her world."

"And what would that be Rebecca", Ivy questioned nonchalantly.

"Don't play coy with me Ivy", the redhead snapped. "This particular situation has your dirty little fingerprints all over it. I wonder if Sam would think it's a coincidence that Charity was suddenly offered a teaching position at a school chartered by your father, when no one's heard from her in years."

The blonde felt her heart sinking like a stone.

"Would he chalk it up to chance", Rebecca continued. "Or would he start to question his adoring wife who's already wrecked one marriage-"

"Enough Rebecca" Ivy snapped. "What do you want?"

"Really Ivy, you've no sense of humor these days," she pouted. "But you already know what I want. I want my grandson"

"Not on your life!" the blonde huffed stalking away from the redhead. "You go ahead and tell Sam your suspicions because that's all they are. But I am not going to let you rip my grandson away from his parents!"

"Gwen is his mother!" Rebecca roared back finally losing her temper.

She took a deep breath and struggled to calm herself.

"I'm going to give you some time to think things over Ivy, because you really have a lot to lose here", she said as she grabbed her purse and headed toward the door.

"I mean what would your precious son and daughter in law think if the saw Charity's son with those gorgeous brown eyes and realize you kept Miguel away from his son." The redhead gave her rival a triumphant smirk. "They shouldn't be too shocked, I mean it's not like you haven't kept a son from his father before."

Ivy snatched a glass vase from the coffee table and flung it towards a laughing Rebecca as she shut the door.

That bitch! Ivy fumed. What am I going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the swirling secrets in Harmony increase, will the residents protect their relationships or their secrets? What happens when Miguel and Charity finally come face to face? And the most unexpected secret ever rocks Harmony to its core! Tune in to the next episode of Passions


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would hold the hands of the one who could lead me places  
> And kiss the lips of the one who could sing so sweet...  
> And I would fly on the wings of a bird I knew  
> Could take me higher breathe in breathe out  
> You keep me alive you are the fire burning inside  
> You are my passion for life!

It was a seldom occasion for Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Winthrop to be rendered speechless, but there she was in absolute shock by the news her mother had just unloaded on her. The brunette put her hands on her head still trying to process everything. Earlier that day she'd been working from home with Jane when her mother had arrived and frantically pulled her upstairs. Luckily, Theresa's housekeeper was still there to look after Jane while the two women talked.

"Mama-" Theresa began still trying to comprehend everything she'd been told.

"Don't ask me again Theresita" Pilar snapped. "I know what I saw!"

"I-I just can't believe it, the young brunette replied. For God's sake she's married with a son".

"Aye poor Noah he has no clue." The matriarch sighed. "He's just returned from out of town and is supposed to be picking up Joseph from Ivy and Sam's. I can't believe how your sister neglects her son!"

"We've got to talk to her mama." Theresa chimed in as she paced the room. "She's got to come clean with Noah and make a choice about who she wants to be with".

Pilar was straightening her daughters' bedroom and frowned at Theresa's comment.

"There is no choice mija", she snapped. "Paloma will stay with Noah and raise Joseph as a family. This relationship with Simone Russell is sinful and against nature I won't allow it."

For the second time that day, Theresa found herself speechless.

"Mama", she said incredulous at her mother's bitter tone. "If Paloma chooses to be with another woman it's her choice. We've all done things we shouldn't have; the mistake was in cheating not who she cheated with."

The Lopez Fitzgerald matriarch said nothing as her oldest daughter hugged her.

"Ethan's not going to believe this", Theresa sighed heavily.

"No mija! Pilar exclaimed pulling out of her daughters embrace. You cannot tell him, he will go straight to his brother. No one can know about this until we deal with Paloma!"

"Ethan and I don't have secrets Mama," the young mother said sternly. "Secrets and lies are what kept Ethan and I apart for years & I am not bringing them into our marriage."

Pilar took her daughter into her arms and kissed her cheeks.

"Theresita I understand," she said. "No one is happier than I am that you and Ethan are finally together with the children. I wouldn't ask you to jeopardize that. This is only for a few days and everything will be straightened out I promise."

Theresa silently pondered her mother's plea and finally she sighed and nodded in agreement.

"But only for a few days Mama", she said pointedly. I won't risk my marriage for anything, even my sister".

"Gracias mija, I'll get started fixing this mess right away." Pilar grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "Kiss Jane for me".

"Where are you going?" Theresa was almost scared to ask.

"To have a word with the latest Mrs. Crane then I'll deal with your sister", the matriarch said.

"Mama! You can't blame Simone for this Paloma made her own choice"!

But Pilar was already out the door. The brunette collapsed on her bed and sighed. So much for no more secrets in Harmony.

...

Nearby, Ethan Winthrop had taken a day away from the office and found himself wondering through the town of Harmony. Around this time of the year, the lawyer always found himself reflecting on his life. Summer was beginning to turn into fall & though years apart, he had lost both his daughter and his brother around this time of the year and it was an especially painful time for him. Before he knew it Ethan found himself at the Crane cemetery, right away he noticed the enormous memorial monument his mother and Julian had set up for Fox. He walked over and sat on the bench near it.

"Hey little brother," the lawyer said quietly. "It's just me checking in. I haven't been here in a while but we're always thinking about you. Especially mother. I know you always thought I was her favorite but she loved you too. She misses you so much & I do too. You and Chad were the only ones to call me out on my bullshit & now I've lost both of you."

Ethan lowered his head sadly.

"I wish things had been better between us buddy." The oldest of Ivy's children wiped away a few tears before getting up; there was one more person he had to see.

..

As the lawyer approached the area where his daughter was buried, he was startled to hear voices.

"We really should go now honey," a familiar voice said quietly.

Ethan moved closer to Sarah's burial area and saw that Gwen and her mother were there leaving flowers. The pair looked up when they heard him coming and Gwen quickly turned away.

"I'll leave you two with your daughter", the redhead said solemnly and made to leave.

When she was sure the former couple were no longer looking Rebecca quickly hid behind a building and whipped out her cell phone.

"What are you doing here", the blonde asked quietly as she sat back down. It was clear she didn't want to leave.

"She was my daughter too Gwen", Ethan said. "I come here often".

His ex-wife said nothing but slide over on the bench so he could sit down. She sniffed and wiped away a stray tear. "It's getting close to that time you know", Gwen said shakily. "And it still hurts like it just happened yesterday. "

Ethan sighed heavily, Gwen had never allowed herself to move past Sarah's death and it had changed her so drastically. Maybe if he had gotten her help back then, if he'd stood up and followed his heart from the beginning, things wouldn't have spun out of control the way they had.

"Hey", he finally said taking her hand. "I know we'll never truly get over losing our daughter. But we have to find a way to make peace with it Gwen. You can't keep living in this perpetual state of grief."

As the truth of her ex-husbands words washed over her, the blonde could only cry harder and leaned into him. Ethan put a comforting arm around her unaware of the subtle clicks of a nearby camera.

"You should really ask Eve to recommend a therapist", Ethan said after a moment. "Trust me it helps."

Gwen pulled herself away from him & chuckled softly.

"Right... I'd better go-", she began to say

"Jonathan's at my parents, Ethan interrupted suddenly. "I can have my dad drop him off at your house later."

The stunned blonde stared at him for a moment not believing what she's just heard. Was Ethan really going to let her have Jonathan during the week? Before he could change his mind, Gwen nodded and stood up. She walked over to Sarah's tombstone and kissed it.

"I'm going to get things ready for your little brother", she sniffed and looked back at Ethan. "But your daddy's still here okay? Rest easy sweetheart."

She gave her ex-husband one last teary half-smile before she left the Crane cemetery. Ethan sighed heavily as looked at his daughters' grave.

I hope I'm doing the right thing, he thought. And Sarah I hope you're proud of me.

...

Nearby, Rebecca continued to watch everything that was happening from her hidden corner. Despite the number of years that had passed it was clear that her former son in law still had the same bleeding heart. The redhead almost felt bad using a situation as sad as this for her own benefit, but she shrugged off the feeling. Nevertheless, she knew her daughter would thank her for it later. Pulling out her phone, Rebecca flipped through the photos she'd taken of Ethan and Gwen. These were sure to come in handy.

...

Nearby Whitney Harris Crane sighed heavily as she returned to her empty house. She'd just returned from dropping Miles and Chelsea off at the rec center for their afternoon activities. The young widow briefly thought about going out and enjoying herself but that was becoming harder and harder to do. If she wasn't with her best friend Theresa or her kids, Whitney didn't really know what to do with herself. Deep down she knew she was depressed, despite the front she tried to put on for her friends and family, she couldn't escape the dark feelings that welled up inside her every time she was alone.

Oh, Chad I would give anything to have you back. Whitney thought as she sat down on her couch. You're supposed to be here with me, raising our children together. The tennis coach shook away the thoughts.

"I can't get caught up in this misery again, she said. I'll make spaghetti for dinner, the kids' favorite!"

The young woman hummed to herself as she headed into her kitchen and bustled around making dinner. Suddenly a loud crash came from below and Whitney nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Oh my god", she yelled as she rushed to the nearest phone. "What was that?"

The young woman listened for a few nerve-racking moments and after hearing nothing, she decided to put the phone down. She chuckled nervously at herself for overreacting.

Something probably just fell, I'd better go check, she thought as she headed toward the basement.

"Hello, is anyone down here", the beauty called out nervously when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Whitney reached over to flip the light switch, and let out a horrified scream when she noticed a man balled up on her basement floor. The rough and unkempt man looked startled at the noise but made no move to flee. He simply stared...almost as if he knew her.

"How did you get in here?" she asked holding her hands up in defense. She quickly looked around for a weapon but saw nothing she could use to defend herself.

"If you need to eat I'll get you something but you can't stay here. This house belongs to the Cranes!"

At this statement, the man chuckled bitterly and Whitney backed away in fear. Oh no, what if this man was some deranged lunatic after the Cranes? While she barely considered herself a Crane her children still were.

"I'm calling the cops!" she said shakily and turned to head back upstairs.

"Whitney don't", the man rasped.

The tennis coach stopped in her tracks. Why did his voice sound so familiar? "

What did you say?" she questioned as she slowly approached him. "How did you know my name?"

The man said nothing but dug into his pocket and pulled out a photo, gingerly he held it out to her. Still mindful of the stranger Whitney dashed forward and grabbed the photo before returning to the safety of the stairs. As she looked down at the photo, she gasped, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of her. The photo was weathered but the tennis coach could clearly recognize herself, Chad, Ethan, Theresa, Gwen & Fox in L.A. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since that picture was taken. She gingerly brushed her fingers over the photo. They were all so young and full of life back then.

Whitney turned back to the man and stared at him more closely.

"Where did you get this picture", she snapped. "And just who the hell are you?".

The man sat silently and stared directly at her, as if daring her to recognize him. The beautiful widow stared back and gasped slightly as he became more and more familiar.

"It can't be," she whispered trembling as she moved closer to him. "But if he'd been clean shaven, with a haircut...he could be..."

The man laughed bitterly.

"You finally recognize me? he said speaking clearly for the first time.

It was at that moment she knew. It was him.

It was Fox Crane!

"It can't be you; you're supposed to be dead!" Whitney freaked running her hands through her curly hair.

Her grief must have finally driven her crazy. He smirked at her growing panic.

"Well it is me Whitney, Fox Crane, he said quietly voice laden with pain. "I have so much to tell you". The widow could only stare in utter shock as the room began to spin.

"How-"was all Whitney got out before she fell into darkness.

...

Across town, Miguel Lopez Fitzgerald was having a busy day and he was glad it was almost over. First, Kay called and informed him that she, Jessica and the children were all heading back to Harmony. Then he'd dealt with private phone calls all day, each message was the same. A strange voice kept repeating an address in Castleton he urgently needed to get to. Since the small business owner was done with work for the day, he decided to go to the address he'd been called about. The voice on the other line was eerily familiar though the person was clearly trying to disguise himself or herself. As he headed out, Miguel was a bit surprised to see his former sister in law Sheridan speeding down the road ahead of him.

Hmm he thought she must be on the way back to Castleton. I wonder if she knows where this address is. He quickly dialed her number, but it went to voicemail. He shrugged it off and in a little under twenty minutes, Miguel arrived in the neighborhood. He smiled at the modest houses and families as he made his way to the address. What could possibly be so urgent in such a nice neighborhood?

The raven-haired man parked his truck and approached the home, after double-checking the address he made his way up the walkway. The house was similar to the others that he'd passed, with toys littered around the yard so he knew children lived there. Miguel was starting to feel silly as he rang the doorbell. What if this was some kind of prank?

Sure enough after several tries no one answered, he shrugged & headed back to his truck. Just as he was about to leave, Miguel suddenly got the urgent feeling that he should wait. It was almost as if a voice in his head was telling him, Wait Miguel.

He decided to follow his feelings and mere moments later a white car pulled into the driveway. The young man sat and watched as a young woman got out and quickly headed towards the backseat. He felt a strange ache in his chest as she reached inside and pulled out a small boy, no more than 2 or three years old. The laughing child suddenly reached out and snatched away the baseball cap the woman was wearing and beautiful blonde hair fell down around her.

Recognizing her instantly Miguel sucked in a breath and leapt from his truck.

"Elijah no!" Charity fussed failing to notice the approaching man.

"Hey", Elijah called out causing his mother to turn and look.

The blonde reeled back and swore she felt her heart hit the bottom of her shoes. It couldn't be...Miguel? She blinked rapidly, even fiercely wiped her eyes to be sure she was seeing clearly. But it was him, it was definitely Miguel and the broken look in his eyes made her want to disappear.

"Charity?" He choked out in disbelief.

However, his tear filled eyes were not on her, they were on the little boy Charity held tightly in her arms. He couldn't have been more than 2 or three years old...which meant? As the realization washed over him, Miguel doubled over as if in pain.

"Oh my god," he whispered eyes locked on Elijah. "What have you done Charity?"

"Miguel," she cried out in disbelief and began walking towards him but he backed away. "There are so many things you don't understand."

Elijah looked back and forth between the two and tugged on his mother's shirt.

"Man sad," the little boy said as he watched tears spill from Miguel's eyes. Elijah's' eyes also filled with tears making his brown eyes shining brightly in the afternoon sun.

He has Theresa's eyes, my eyes? Miguel scoffed bitterly and turned away.

"Wait Miguel", Charity yelled setting Elijah down. "Please just let me explain."

"Explain what? He thundered. "Why you ran away from me three years ago? How you're holding a little boy who looks just like me? My God Charity!"

Miguel pulled at his hair in agony.

"How many times have I begged you not to run away, to stay & fight to be with me?" he snapped.

The blonde could only cry harder causing her son to cling to her legs and whine. At the sight of him, Miguel took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"Miguel please," Charity gasped through her tears.

"I can't right now, Charity" he said brokenly. "I just can't. You've always run away from every problem we ever faced; now it's my turn."

The young man took one last look at his son before running to his truck. Charity placed her hand on her forehead and cried as Miguel's truck raced away.

"I'm sorry Miguel, she whispered. "I'm so sorry"


	11. Chapter 11

As Whitney came to, she groaned softly as her head pounded. The man who claimed to be Fox Crane sat next to her looking concerned.

"About time", he said gruffly.

Whitney's eyes focused on Fox and she swooned again, but he grabbed her.

"Uh-uh", he said. "I need you to stay with me."

Fox slowly gathered the widow into his arms and carried her up the stairs. He settled her on the sofa and got her some water. Whitney sat up and waved the water away, her mind was completely blown.

"How are you here", she asked. "Esme's niece Viki killed you! I went to your funeral for God's sake!"

Fox drank the water that Whitney had turned down and let out a bitter laugh.

"How does anything happen in Harmony? My dear old grandfather Alistair of course.", he snapped.

At the mention of Alistair, the tennis coach tensed, he was the reason Chad was dead. Was there no limit to the pain that man would inflict on his own family?

"He set it all up", Fox scoffed. "After Kay found out I was faking my illness and went back to Miguel, I had a brief fling with Esme. She was great, but I eventually decided I was going to leave Harmony, travel the world and be playboy Crane again. But before I could get onto the Crane Jet, I was knocked out."

Whitney listened in silence riveted by his story.

"When I came to I was in an underground bunker, God knows where. Grandfather was there, he said he was keeping me there to right all the wrongs in the Crane family. He said that Little Ethan wasn't Julian's real son and he needed a new heir. Grandfather said he had to mold me, so I'd be ready to rule the Crane Empire."

Fox took a breath and shivered as the memories washed over him.

"At first, I was excited you know, I'd already lost Kay and the thought of finally being the Crane heir was thrilling", he said quietly. "But then it morphed into something dark, something twisted. Grandfather's demands became more and more unhinged. I wasn't allowed to leave the bunker, I was subjected to all these crazy mental challenges. It was hell!"

The widow was stunned at the tale, but she reached an unsteady hand out to comfort a trembling Fox.

"Everything just spun so far out of control", he continued. "Between Grandfather and his goons, I began to lose my grip on reality. I couldn't tell what was real or not, if it was day or night! I have no idea how long it went on."

"But Fox it's been more than five years, since Alistair was killed, you never left the bunker in all that time?", Whitney asked. "I mean you seem to be of pretty sound mind right now"

"I don't know!", he thundered causing the Whitney to jump. "Sometimes I think I was outside but I'm not sure if that was real or imagined. I-I just don't know Whit"

As she reached out to comfort him the brown beauty's mind was racing. Everything inside was telling her that this was Fox Crane but was the story he was telling her true? Could he really have been alive all this time? Just the idea of it left her breathless, how would the rest of Harmony react. Ivy would-

"Oh my God", she whispered as realization washed over her. "We've got to get you to see my Mom, w-we've got to call your parents!"

She rushed towards the phone, but Fox quickly stopped her.

"Not yet Whitney", the sandy blonde said firmly. "I don't want anyone to know I'm alive."

The tennis coach ran her hand through her hair, she was thoroughly frustrated at this point.

"Fox, why not? You honestly have no idea how losing you affected everyone who loved you. Especially your parents, my God your mother and Kay got into a fist fight over your casket!", she said.

He stared blankly. "What!?"

"Now's not the time", Whitney said shaking away the thought. "We lost you and Chad around the same time, and it was unbelievably difficult. If Chad was out there somewhere I'd want to know"

"Grandfather told me that he killed Chad, but I never took him seriously", Fox said quietly never got to say I'm sorry about that Whit".

"Don't, please", she said ignoring the familiar ache in her chest. "If there's one thing I'm tired of hearing it "I'm sorry"", she murmured. "Anyway, this isn't about me it's about you. If you don't want to tell your parents yet at least let me get you check out by a doctor."

Fox said nothing, still absorbing the news of Chad's death.

Whitney quickly called her mother's line at the hospital before he could change his mind. As the phone rang, she wondered if her mother would be able to keep a secret of this magnitude from Julian. More importantly how could she ever ask her to?

…

The next day

Sheridan and Marty were sitting down to a hardy breakfast prepared by their cook, Elisa. Though the two usually had a rowdy breakfast full of laughing and teasing, this morning's breakfast was stonily quiet. As Marty dug into his pancakes, the moody teen ignored his mother's pleading eyes. While he was especially close to her, he was not going to allow her to guilt him into anything he didn't want to do.

"Marty", Sheridan said sweetly realizing her plan wasn't going to work.

"Mom, no", he said tightly. "I'm not doing it"

Marty flexed his jaw angrily and Sheridan knew she was losing the battle, the jaw flex was Luis' signature move.

"Fine", she said sipping her orange juice. "then you won't be going to the game with your dad today."

"That's not fair!", Marty yelled. "I've been doing that stupid Math camp all summer! Why can't I have just one day off?"

"Camp will be over next week sweetheart", the blonde pleaded. "You only have to go a few more days."

"Whatever", the teen snapped and stormed away from the table.

"Marty!", Sheridan called as he ran up the stairs.

The heiress sighed as she heard a door slam and got up to help Elisa clear the table. It seemed that breakfast was over.

"Oh no Ms. Crane", the cook said. "Really, I've got everything under control. I can even do some cleaning upstairs before I go."

Sheridan reluctantly agreed, knowing the young woman needed the money. She was about to offer her assistance again when the doorbell rang. Elisa rushed ahead and opened the door to a smiling Luis.

"It's for you Ms. Crane", she said as she opened the door.

Luis stared at the maid as she turned and headed up the stairs.

"You got a maid?", he asked as entered the house.

"No, she's just supposed to cook for us a few days a week", Sheridan whispered as she sat down on the couch. "But she needs the money, so I let her clean too."

"Well I guess I'd better brush up on my cooking skills before- "

"Dad!", Marty interrupted as he bounded down the stair. "I'm ready to go."

"You're not going anywhere young man", Sheridan snapped.

The teen ignored his mother and turned pleading eyes toward his father.

"Dad, she's trying to make me do math camp again today!", he complained. "We're supposed to be going to see the New England Nets game today remember?"

The police officer stared back and forth between his son and his love, who in turn were both staring him down. If he planned on rekindling things with Sheridan, he'd better get used to this.

"Math camp again Sheridan?", Luis asked choosing to side with his son. "He's been working hard all summer, we're going to the game today."

"Luis", the blonde exclaimed.

She was furious that he didn't side with her. Meanwhile, their son plopped down on the couch with a smirk. He knew where this was going, his mother could never stand up to his father.

"Martin Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald, you'd better wipe that smirk off your face this instant!", Sheridan snapped, she was on to him.

Luis and Marty cringed at the use of his full name.

"Alright you two", Luis intervened with a smile. "Let's try to compromise."

"But Dad- "

"Luis- "

The police officer held up his hand to silence them both.

"I'm taking Marty to the game", he said. "He's been looking forward to it all summer."

"All right!", Marty whooped as his mother scowled.

"But as soon as we get back we'll work on the math together", Luis continued.

"But Dad- "

"AND after your mom's satisfied, I'll make some of Mama's famous guacamole and we'll have a Marvel's movie night", he finished.

Sheridan and Marty stared at each other than at Luis for a full minute before smiles slowly spread across their faces.

"All right", their son acquiesced. "but we've got to watch all the Captain America movies."

"I'll have everything ready when you guys get back", the blonde said smiling.

"Come on buddy let's go", Luis said.

"Bye Mom", Marty yelled as he grabbed his bag, but Sheridan stopped him.

"Sweetheart I hate being the bad guy", she said softly. "I just love you so much and I want the best for you"

"I know Mom, I love you too.", the teen replied sheepishly. "I'll do a lot better this year I promise.

The two hugged and Luis couldn't help but smile at them, and realization washed over him. This was his family, this was where he belonged.

"Alright head to the car", he interrupted. "I need to talk to your mom for a minute."

"Ok", Marty said and headed out the door.

…

After he was sure Marty was gone, Luis rushed over and took Sheridan into his arms.

"God, I missed you", he whispered in her ear.

"I've missed you too Luis", the blonde sighed into his arms.

"Things have been so hectic lately, but Fancy and I are supposed to talk as soon as possible", Luis said.

"Not before movie night, tonight right?", she asked not wanting Marty to be disappointed.

"Of course, I- "

BEEP BEEP

Marty was honking the horn from the car.

"You'd better go before he drives off", she said.

"Not a chance" Luis replied jingling the keys. They laughed and headed towards the door.

"Wait I almost forgot something"

"What?" the blonde asked looking around.

"This", Luis smiled as he cupped her chin and kissed her deeply. Sheridan sighed into his kiss allowing Luis to slide his tongue deeper into her mouth. Luis moaned softly and pressed himself into her.

"Luis", she moaned breaking the kiss. "I- "

BEEP BEEP

"I'd better go before he comes back", he said wiping his mouth. "I love you so much Sheridan, we'll talk more tonight"

He opened the door to leave and found Gwen and Johnathan poised to knock.

"Nice to see you Gwen", he said hurriedly as he rushed passed her to his car.

The blonde felt her jaw drop. Luis was being friendly?

Gwen turned her attention to her best friend who appeared equally flushed. And what on Earth was going on with her hair. Realization washed over the blonde as she and Jonathan stepped inside and closed the door. The boy immediately ran to the couch to turn on the television, while his mother turned her attention to their host.

"Alright Sheridan Crane, let's hear it", Gwen said crossing her arms. "What's really going on with you and Luis?"

….

Harmony Hospital's chief of staff sat in her office working through a mountain of paperwork. Her daughter Whitney had been calling since last night, but Eve hadn't been able to find a free moment to call her back, she hoped Whitney understood.

I'll call her back once I'm finished with this pile, Eve Crane thought.

While her life was much busier since her promotion and her marriage to Julian Crane, she couldn't deny that she was happy. She'd work hard at cleaning her life up for the second time and having a husband that loved her as she was, left her with a feeling of freedom and empowerment she'd never felt with T.C. In her marriage to Julian she wasn't constantly looking over her shoulder waiting for her life to fall apart, because even if something did go wrong she knew Julian would be supportive and nonjudgmental.

As the doctor reach for another file, the door to office opened and her phone rang simultaneously. Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald stormed into the office followed closely by a nurse.

"I tried to stop her Dr. Crane", the head nurse Tracy said, clearly agitated.

"It's alright Tracy", Eve said. "Pilar is an old friend.

By now the phone had stopped ringing and the look on Pilar's face let her know that this was anything but a friendly visit. Tracy fixed Pilar with a malevolent glare before she left the two women alone on the office.

"Pilar, you look upset", the doctor said standing. "Is everything okay?"

"Dr. Crane I'm here to tell you one thing", the Lopez-Fitzgerald matriarch said tightly. "I want you to keep Simone away from my daughter."

"But why?", Eve questioned. "Pilar, you know those girls have been best friends for years just like Whitney and Theresa."

Pilar shuddered at the thought.

"They are nothing like Whitney and Theresa", she snapped.

"Just what are saying Pilar?", Eve asked but Pilar said nothing just stared pointedly at the doctor.

"No", she said as realization hit her. "Now you wait just a minute, just because Simone is gay doesn't mean- "

"I saw them kissing", the mother of five choked out. "Paloma is a wife and a mother, and I will not have her throw her life away for some fling with your daughter."

At that Mrs. Crane felt her jaw tighten.

"That's quite enough Pilar, she said. "Now I have no idea what, if anything, is going on between our girls but what you won't do is treat my daughter like she has some disease and Paloma's been infected. I will talk to Simone and see what's going on".

Pilar nodded and turned to leave but Eve wasn't quite done yet.

"One more thing Pilar", she said crossing her arms. "If they are seeing each other and do decide to be together, that's something you'll just have to deal with. You and Noah, whom I'm assuming knows nothing about this."

"Over my dead body", Pilar snapped and slammed the door on her way out.

Eve sighed and placed her head in her hands.

"I've got to call Whitney and see what's going on"

…

By the time the Lopez-Fitzgerald matriarch reached her home she'd almost calmed down from the days' events. She'd accomplished her goal of putting Eve on notice and what Eve did about her daughter was her business. Pilar, on the other hand, had already called Paloma informing her that she knew everything. She'd ordered her youngest child to meet her at the family home immediately.

As she walked through the door, she quickly noticed her daughter sitting on the couch. She had the decency to look ashamed.

"Mama- "she began.

"I don't want to hear it mija", Pilar said walking through the house.

"Where's Joseph", Paloma demanded as she followed her mother.

The older brunette stopped and stared at her daughter as if she'd grown a second head.

"Now you're concerned about my grandson?", she snapped. "You haven't seen him days mija, so don't pretend to be concerned now."

Paloma bit her lip as a wave of guilt washed over her.

"I love my baby mama", she said softly. "Don't act like I don't call to check on him."

"Aye Paloma", her mother said softening. "You need- "

A loud knock on the door startled them both.

"I'll get it", the youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald said and rushed toward the door. Paloma didn't care who it was, she was just grateful for a temporary reprieve from her mother.

Standing in the kitchen Pilar sighed heavily. What was she going to do with her wayward child? Picking up the phone she placed a call to her least troubled child, Theresa. If someone had told her ten years ago that Theresa would be her least troubled child, she'd have laughed in their face. But now Pilar took comfort in knowing that her oldest daughter had her life together.

As she caught Theresa up on the day's events, she noticed that Paloma had never come back into the kitchen.

"If that child's left I'll wring her neck", she huffed into the phone, storming her way into the living room.

Pilar was surprised to see her daughter on the couch comforting a familiar looking blonde woman. Pilar's heart quickened as she moved closer and her worst fears were confirmed the moment she hear the woman's voice.

"Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald", Charity sniffed removing herself from Paloma's embrace. "I'm sorry, I just didn't know where else to go. You see-"

At that moment Elijah popped up from his hiding place behind the couch.

"Boo!", he giggled and raced to his mother.

Pilar let out a scream, scaring Theresa who was still on the phone.

She was sure that Charity was speaking, trying to explain but Pilar heard nothing. All she could do was stare at the little boy with big brown eyes. Theresa's eyes. She struggled to breathe for a moment as she plopped into a chair.

"Theresita", she whispered into the phone. "I need you to get here…quickly"


	12. Chapter 12

After a long day Ethan Winthrop walked into his home, he was greeted by the familiar loud noise of a full house. His son and Miles were playing some video game and the squeals upstairs let the lawyer know his daughter and Chelsea were upstairs. He walked into the home office where his wife usually was but was surprised to find it empty.

"Hey Ethan Jr, where's your mom? he asked looking around the home.

"After we picked Miles and Chelsea up from the rec center, Mom got a call and had to go somewhere", the boy replied never taking his eyes off the game. "She said she'd be back soon. Mom was upset cause she couldn't find Johnny or something?".

Ethan swallowed as a sense of dread washed over him. How had he forgotten to tell Theresa that he'd let Gwen get Jonathan for the week? He quickly dialed his wife's cell number, he had to talk to her before someone else did. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.

"Tell your mom I need to talk to her the minute she gets back", Ethan said before heading upstairs to check on the girls.

Seeing his daughter would distract him from the guilt he felt. He knew that he and Theresa had made a serious promise to each other concerning secrets and honesty after they'd gotten married. Right now Ethan couldn't help but feel that he'd broken that promise, albeit unintentionally. He sighed as he headed into his daughter's room, hopefully Theresa would understand.

...

At the baseball stadium

Luis and Marty cheered wildly as the New England Nets baseball game came to a close. In a very close game the Nets had pulled through 8-6, and the Lopez Fitzgerald Men couldn't be more thrilled.

"Oh man what a great game!", Luis said to his son as they stood cheering.

"Did you see that last hit by Ronan dad? That won them the game", Marty exclaimed watching the team on the field. "Hope I'm that good one day."

"Hey, just keep practicing son", Luis said putting an arm around his son. "I bet you'll be even better than Ronan one day."

"Hey, they're signing autographs down below, go see if you can get a few but don't go too far."

"Okay dad I'll be right back", the excited teen said and took off towards the field.

Once he had clear view of his son on the field Luis pulled out his cell phone. It had buzzed steadily during the game, but he had ignored it not wanting anything to intrude on his day with Marty. Going through his phone Luis noticed miss calls from his mother, Theresa, Miguel, and Fancy. Making a mental note to check in with his family, he decided to call Fancy first.

The phone rang a few times before going voicemail, Luis was unsurprised as his wife was usually too busy running Crane Couture to talk to him anyway. Instead of hanging up as usual, he left a voicemail telling Fancy he needed to talk to her later and instructed her to call him back to set up a time. He sighed heavily, imagine having to set up a meeting with my own wife. He shook away the negative thoughts and headed towards the baseball field. He was going to enjoy the rest of his day with Marty.

...

Whitney Harris Crane paced the floors of her modest home. The day was winding down and her mother had promised to leave work early to come by the house. She'd spent the last day or so updating her house guest on the five years he'd missed. While she was overjoyed that he was alive and well, the widow was increasingly frustrated by his adamant refusal to let anyone else know he was alive.

"Damnit Fox, my mother's on her way and you will allow her to check you out", Whitney snapped. "There's no way we can keep a secret like this! Even if we could it's wrong! Wrong to let the people who love you think you're dead. Think about your parents and Fancy and Ethan, they'd be so happy to have you back in their lives. They could help you through this, we all could."

Fox remained stubbornly silent as Whitney placed a comforting arm around here.

"I️ know it's going to be hard but we'll all be here for you just imagine seeing Theresa and the kids again, laughing, talking and hanging out like old times."

Fox almost smiled at the thought, but it didn't quite reach his lips.

"A lot has changed since then Whit, I've lost 5 years of my life and you've lost Chad," he said bitterly. "We can't just go back to being the fab five anymore"

Whitney felt her eyes sting with tears at Fox's harsh tone, this wasn't the carefree playboy she'd remembered. He was right, things had changed. As he looked at the hurt look on her face he felt a wave of guilt wash over him and he moved to embrace her. He hadn't meant to hurt her he was just so angry.

"Whitney I️ didn't mean- "

At that moment the door opened, and Eve Crane rushed into the house.

"Whitney Harris I've been calling you all day! Can you believe Pilar"-the doctor stopped her tirade long enough to notice her daughter was not alone.

Fox quickly pulled away from Whitney and lowered his head, but it was too late. Eve's purse clattered on ground, its contents spilling on the floor.

"W-what's going on here," she whispered in disbelief. "Whitney that man h-he looks like..."

"Mom try to calm down okay," Whitney said as she moved towards her mother who appeared to be hyperventilating. "I️ can explain everything."

She turned to look at back at Fox, who gave a slight smirk.

"Hello Dr. Russell", he said softly.

The sound of his voice confirmed his identity and Eve started screaming loud enough to wake the dead.

"Sshhh", Fox jumped from the couch and tried to calm her. "Quiet before someone hears you"

"Eve! Eve what's going on", a voice called from the porch.

The three occupants of the house froze recognizing the voice as that of Julian Crane.

Fox sighed with defeat as his father walked into the house.

"I️ heard screaming and- "he stopped abruptly as he laid eyes on the trio. The Crane patriarch gasped slightly as he focused on Fox. "My god, who are you and why do you look like my son? What the hell is going on here!"

Cat's out of the bag now, Fox thought as his father stared in disbelief.

...

Over at Sheridan's she Gwen and Johnathan were having a late afternoon snack.

"Wow, Sheridan", Gwen said finishing her food. "I can't believe you actually took my advice."

The blonde heiress frowned at her friend.

"I️ think we had both been thinking about it for a while but i suppose your advice finally did spur me to tell Luis how I felt"

"Well why don't you seem happier about it?", her friend questioned as she tried to lay her restless soon down for a nap.

"I️ don't know Gwen, I am happy. I'm just worried that something will go wrong." The heiress said pacing. "I'm worried about Fancy, and about how Marty will react. I'm just worried."

"Honey, try not to worry too much", Gwen said comfortingly. "Sure, this is going to be a big change for everyone and it's going to take some getting used to, but the end result will be worth it. You'll have a family with the love of your life and your son. What more could you ask for?"

Sheridan stopped pacing and sat down next to her friend.

"Oh Gwen, I've been so selfish, I haven't even asked about how you've been", she said "What with Sarah's anniversary and everything."

The blonde gave her friend a half smile.

"I'm doing okay Sheridan, having Johnathan with me this week has made things bearable. Hearing him laugh and seeing him smile is so bittersweet because I'll never know what Sarah's smile would've looked like, what her laugh would've sounded like."

The woman paused, and Sheridan hugged her, squeezing tight.

"It's going to be okay honey", the heiress told her friend. "I'm glad you've had Johnathan this week."

"He's the light of my life Sheridan", Gwen said. "and I️ miss him so much when he's not with me. I'm so desperate to get him back but I don't want to do anything that may cause me to lose him for good." Her body tensed with frustration.

"I️ know it's hard but it does seem as though you and Ethan are making progress towards custody?" Sheridan advised. You've gone from every other weekend to every weekend and He let you have him for a whole week."

Before Gwen could start ranting Sheridan decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, tell me about your date the other week."

Gwen knew what Sheridan was up to but decided to indulge her friend anyway.

"It was nice, she said smiling at the memory. "We went to this nice Italian restaurant a few towns over. He's really intelligent and attentive, he owns his own software company. No kids and never been married before"

"That's great Gwen! the Crane heiress exclaimed, "So when's the next date?"

"Hold your horses Sheridan I️ didn't say there was going to be another date," Gwen said.

Sheridan stated at the other blonde dumbfounded, "Why not! You just said he was a great guy, why not see where it goes?"

"I need to focus on being a mother right now, Sheridan" Gwen snapped.

"Gwen there's no reason you can do both, you can be a good mother and find love", the heiress said grabbing her best friends' hand. "You've come so far as a woman and a mother, we both have. I'd hate to see you get caught up in this anger and lose everything you've worked so hard for."

Gwen sat silently for a moment starring at her sleeping son and running her hand through his fine blonde hair.

"You're right Sheridan and I'm going to do this the right way", she finally said. I'm going to talk to Ethan about 50/50 custody as nicely as I can. But if he refuses to share my son with me, I'm going to court for full custody.

Sheridan sighed heavily and nodded, but she had the sinking feeling that trouble was coming.

...

Across town Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Winthrop jumped from her car and ran towards her mothers' house. Her mind was racing. After she'd gotten the urgent call from her mother she'd headed straight there leaving the girls with little Ethan and Miles knowing her husband would be home soon. The brunette prayed everyone was okay.

"Mama", she shouted as she rushed into the house. "Mama are you okay?"

She found the matriarch resting on the couch with a cold compress on her head. Paloma sat nearby looking worried. She's fine Theresa, she's just had a bit of a shock. Theresa sighed with relief and sat down in the living room.

"Is this about you and-"

"No!". Pilar snapped before Theresa could finish her sentence. "We'll deal with that later. This is about your brother-"

A young child's squeal interrupted her.

"Is Johnny here?" Theresa asked looking around to see where the sound was coming from. "I thought he was at San and Ivy's. No one answered when I called earlier" "

No mija, he's not here but Charity is," Pilar sighed and called for Charity to come downstairs.

As the lovely blonde reached the bottom of the stairs, Paloma met her and took Elijah from her arms.

"Hi Theresa, it's good to see you", Charity said softly. "We were just upstairs, I️ didn't know who would be with you and the last thing I want is too surprise anyone else."

Theresa stood speechless for a moment as Charity came and hugged her.

"I-it's good to see you", she said but I'm a bit confused. Is that your son?" Charity nodded and they all sat down.

"And our nephew", Paloma murmured.

The brunette's mouth fell open in shock and she started to protest but then she took a closer look at the child, she could see the distinct resemblance. This could definitely be Miguel's child.

"Please let me explain", Charity said as gathered her baby back into her arms.

The blonde launched into her story, telling the Lopez-Fitzgerald women how she and Miguel had reconnected years ago, discovering she was pregnant and the job offer that had brought her to Castleton. By the time Charity explained how Miguel had found them, everyone was in tears.

"My poor Miguelito", Pilar cried.

"But I don't understand how he found you", Paloma questioned. "If no one else knew that you'd move to Castleton how did Miguel suddenly show up at your doorstep?"

"Right, Theresa concurred. "Something doesn't seem right about this. And Charity I've just got to ask why didn't you just tell Miguel that you were pregnant. I'm not judging but your situation was very different than mine, Miguel would've been there for you. Is there something you're not telling us?"

The blonde sat silently considering the deal she'd made with death all those years ago and decided she couldn't tell them the truth.

"You'd never understand", she said softly. "Anyway, it's late and I️ think it's time I️ get Elijah home".

Before they could stop her Charity and her sleeping son were headed towards the door.

"Please wait Charity", Paloma called and they all followed her to the door. "Here's my number call if you need to talk."

"And here's mine", Theresa added giving the girl a slip of paper and a hug.

"Trust me if anyone understands I️ do" she whispered in her ear. "We'll be here for you if you let us."

The two Lopez-Fitzgerald girls stepped back and let their mother speak with Charity. Pilar leaned in and kissed her sleeping grandson.

"Oh Charity", she said eyes full of pity. "You and Miguel have been through so much. Something is keeping you from him, I️ don't know what it is but what's most important now is my grandson. Please promise me that you won't take him away. We've already missed years of his life, he deserves to know that he has a family that loves him, cousins that he can grow up with."

Charity shifted the sleeping boy and promised to remain in town for now. The blonde bid the Lopez-Fitzgerald women good night and headed home. Pilar sighed heavily and looked over at her daughters, with the sinking feeling that they were up to something.

"Mama, maybe you should go to bed", Theresa said worriedly. "You've had a long day."

"Aye, I'm taking a bath and saying my prayers, so much is going in this family. You two should go home to your families and do the same." she said starring pointedly at her younger daughter.

"We will Mama", Paloma said softly.

After their mother had headed upstairs the two women headed to their cars.

Something isn't right here Theresa", Paloma said reiterating what she'd told Charity earlier. It's almost like someone wanted Miguel to find out about Charity and Elijah."

"I️ think You're right, I'll give you a call tomorrow and we'll set up a meeting. Theresa replied as she climbed into her car. "Try and talk to Miguel tonight if you can, he needs us."

Paloma nodded and got into her car. The two women pulled out of their mother's driveway and headed to their homes.

Whatever's going on, we're going to get to the bottom of it, she thought.

...


	13. Chapter 13

As the sun began to set, a plane from Texas finally touched down in Harmony New England. One of its occupants, Kay Bennet Lopez Fitzgerald, was on pins and needles. Having caught an early morning flight out of Texas, she'd been worried all day about what would await her in Harmony. She hadn't informed her husband or anyone that she and her daughter Maria were returning to town. Her pregnant sister and nephew were also coming back to town for a visit and sat sleeping in the seats up front. Kay didn't know what to expect when she finally reached her humble home in Harmony. She'd originally left town to give her marriage a jumpstart because more than anything she wanted a happy normal family like her sister Jessica had. The brunette sighed heavily as she roused her sleeping family, it was time to go. The Bennett's were officially back in Harmony.

As they quickly strolled through the airport, Maria ran ahead giggling with Sammy.

"Guys come back", Jessica yelled.

At almost 5 months pregnant she was more than ready to get off her feet.

"No way" Maria yelled back. "I've got a surprise for my mommy!"

The sisters stared at each other wondering what the precocious child was up to. They didn't have to wonder long, as they exited the airport they were stunned to see Miguel, Sam and Noah waiting with arms full of balloons and huge "Welcome Home" banner.

"Daddy", Maria yelled rushing into her fathers' arm. "I missed you"

"Hey, my favorite girl" he said holding her close.

Kay Jessica and Sammy also rushed to greet their family. Sam had tears in his eyes as he hugged his youngest child. While he missed her very much he knew Harmony held painful memories for her. he was proud of the life she'd made for herself, and he could help telling her again and again.

"I guess I'm on balloon duty", Noah said trying to lighten the mood. He handed his niece and nephew each a balloon.

Kay stared at her family unsure if she should approach her husband or her father first.

"Mommy!", Maria called making the decision for her.

"Maria," she said walking over. "I knew you were up to something! Did you call and tell everyone that we were coming home today?"

The little girl giggled and shrugged her shoulders. She jumped down from her fathers' arm, running over to the others.

"It's a good thing she did", Miguel said staring into his wife's eyes. "I really missed you both."

The brunette felt her heart skip a beat.

"You did?" She said starring back.

Something looked different about Miguel, he had pain in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"I didn't leave to hurt you. I just-

"I know", Miguel said with a slight chuckle. "You're the only one who's never hurt me. You've always been there for me and I'll never forget that again."

"Miguel- "

Before she could say another word, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. The rest of the Bennett's whistled and laughed as the children groaned. Even Jessica gave the couple a smile of approval.

Kay Bennet Lopez-Fitzgerald had never been so happy to be home.

Later that evening

…..

Ethan Winthrop paced nervously and checked his watched again. The hour was growing late, and his wife had still not returned home. The lawyer had already fed all the kids and they were upstairs waiting for her. They'd told him she'd left to deal with a family emergency, but he hadn't heard a word from her since. He picked up her phone to call her again, but he heard the familiar sound of the brunette's car pulling up in the driveway.

The brunette entered the house quietly not saying a word to Ethan.

"Honey is everything okay?" he questioned disturbed by his wife silence.

"You tell me Ethan, is everything okay? she said tightly.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused. "I thought Little Ethan said that you had to go to your mothers for some emergency I've been trying to reach you ever since I️- ".

"Where's Johnny?", Theresa said quietly.

Ethan sighed, she was upset.

"He's with Gwen", he admitted and with that confirmation Theresa stormed passed him into the kitchen.

"Theresa wait, I meant to tell you it slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind Ethan?" Theresa yelled. "I have been all over town looking for him, thinking that he's at your parents then I get there, and Ivy has no idea where he is!"

"Oh my god", he said. I thought my father would've told her. I didn't mean to worry either of you. I've just been busy with work and- "

"How did this even happen Ethan?" The brunette asked, and Ethan said nothing disturbed by the anger in her voce. "How did Gwen get him? How long has she had him? You didn't think to discuss any of this with me? For god sakes I'm his mother- "

Theresa stopped suddenly and stared at her husband sadly.

"That's just it isn't it, I'm not his mother.", She said softly. "Gwen is, and you are his father, and what I think and how I feel doesn't matter.

"Theresa you know that's not true," Ethan said, but Theresa was already out of the kitchen and heading upstairs.

"Honey wait", the lawyer pleaded grabbing his wife's arm. "the kids are upstairs. Let's just try to talk this out okay?"

Never able to stay angry at her husband for long the brunette nodded and headed towards the living room sofa.

"Maybe I'm over reacting" she sighed plopping down on the couch. "I've just had the longest day, my family is dealing with one crisis after another, and I haven't even been able to talk to you about it Ethan. All I wanted was to get my children and spend the night talking to you about everything".

"No, you have every right to be upset", he said pulling her into his arms. "I shouldn't have made the decision about Johnny without talking to you, I just got caught up in the moment.

Ethan briefly explained what had happened with Gwen at Sarah's burial site. Theresa sat quietly thinking back to that day so many years ago when their lives had changed forever.

"I understand why she'd want to have Johnny with her now," the brunette said softly. "I'm just worried."

"Don't be," he said kissing her forehead. "I️ meant what I️ said we're not going to lose him. "

Theresa snuggled into her husband saying nothing, despite Gwen's reasoning she still had a bad feeling about all of it.

"Now what's the crisis going on with our family?" He questioned happy to change the subject.

"Don't remind me" she moaned getting up off the couch. "I have to meet with Paloma soon."

"About what? Ethan asked trying to pull her into his lap.

"It's a long story and you're not going to believe everything that's going on?", the brunette said "I'll tell you everything after..."

"After what Mrs. Winthrop?" he said kissing her gently.

"After we put the kids to bed" she said moving towards the stairs. "and after you make it up to me".

"And make it up I will" Ethan growled as he chased his squealing wife upstairs.

…..

Over at the Bennett's, Ivy was hurriedly cleaning the house. Her phone had been ringing non-stop with calls from Julian, but she'd ignored him. Sam would be back soon she had to get the house in top shape. The police chief had been thrilled with the news that Jessica and her son were coming back to town with Kay and had gone to the airport to greet them. Ivy elected to stay home and get the house in order, unsure if Jessica would stay with them or with Kay. Ivy knew the house held a lot of memories both good and bad for Jessica, the blonde hoped she would be upset with the remodeling she and Sam had done to the house.

If she was honest Ivy also stayed home because she wasn't sure how Sam's children would react to her presence at such an emotional family moment. She knew that wretch Kay would do everything to make it difficult for her. She wondered if Miguel and Charity had finally run into each other. Since that redheaded rodent Rebecca knew Charity was in town surely the Lopez-Fitzgerald's knew by now. The former Mrs. Crane knew she had to play smart, she could "find out" about Charity before everyone else, or her whole plot would be exposed. And with Rebecca breathing down her throat it was becoming more and more difficult to avoid that.

At this point Ivy was sure it would come out sooner or later, Ivy just had to make sure she was covered when it did.

…..

For the first time in a long time Fancy Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald had left the office early. She'd finally decided to take her father's advice and reach out to her husband and surprisingly he agreed that they needed to talk. The heiress understood that they had grown apart over the past few years but hopefully they could begin the long road to repairing their marriage. She'd even spoken to her stepmother about possible counselors they could see.

As the young woman entered the home she sometimes shared with Luis, she was surprised to notice that night had already fallen, and Luis was not yet there. Hopefully he's still coming, the heiress worried. h Fancy headed upstairs to change into something more comfortable and was surprised to see that Luis' things were missing from the bedroom. Though he'd been sleeping in the adjourning room and out on work related business a lot lately, it was normal for stray shoes at least to be in the room. Strangely, Fancy could find nothing that belonged to her husband. However, before the former police officer could investigate further, the sound of a closing door let her know Luis was home.

The blonde bounded back down the stairs to greet her husband and pondered how to question him about his missing things.

"Hey", she said softly giving him a shy smile.

"Hey", he replied not meeting his wife's eyes.

Fancy felt her chest tighten, fixing their marriage was going to be harder than she thought.

"We need to talk", they both said in unison. The heiress chuckled.

"You first Luis", she said.

"Maybe we should sit down",

Fancy nodded, and they headed toward the kitchen table and made themselves more comfortable. The police officer ran his hands through his hair frustration clear on his face.

"I-i don't know how to start", he said.

"Just say what's on your mind Luis." The blonde smiled. reaching out to touch her husband. "I know things have been hard for us lately, but this talk is the first step towards getting our marriage back on track. "

"That's the thing Fancy, I don't think our marriage can get back on track.", Luis murmured softly.

Fancy recoiled as though she'd been slapped.

"W-What? she whispered.

"A lot has changed between us since...since the accident.", Luis said getting up from the table. "It's like we're strangers living in the same house. We never talk or spend time together, god knows I tried everything to get through to you after we lost the baby. But you shut me out for years, - "

"Luis isn't that the point of this conversation?" Fancy asked. "To figure out a way to find our way back to each other? I've talked to my step mother and she's going to send me a list of therapists that can help us."

"I tried to get you to see a therapist three years ago and you refused", he snapped.

"I know that Luis but now I'm ready to try and fix our marriage."

"Maybe it's too late," he said quietly looking down at the floor.

Silence blanketed the room, and the blonde flashed back to Luis' missing things upstairs.

"You've already decided that haven't you, Fancy said quietly. "You didn't want to talk about how to save our marriage, you're here to end it."

Luis' silence gave the heiress the answer she needed.

"Oh my god" she whispered as she sank back down into her seat. "You're leaving me?"

"Fancy, I never wanted to hurt you okay?" Luis said as he tried to approach his wife. Her teary eyed glared stopped him. "You came to me at a time in my life when I was broken, you showed me that there was happiness after heartbreak. You showed me how to love again, and I will always be grateful to you for that".

Fancy sat silently as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"But we aren't happy, and we haven't been for years now.", he continued. "I don't exactly when or how but our feelings for each other changed."

"No Luis my feelings haven't changed", Fancy snapped. "I still love you just as much as I did the we got married. And I know that we could fix this if we just tried, Luis."

The blonde stood and wrapped her arms around her husband, crying softly. The police officer sighed and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry honey", he whispered. "We never meant to hurt you."

"We?", Fancy reeled back. "Who is we? Luis are you having an affair?"

The blonde's heartache was immediately replaced with anger.

"Answer me Luis!"

"I'm trying!" Luis yelled as he moved away from the angry woman. "It wasn't planned Fancy it just happened. We got closer and closer until it just happened."

"Until what happened Luis?", she ground out as realization washed over her.

"Until we slept together" he finally said.

"Until you slept with who?" she whispered already knowing the answer. There had only ever been one other woman for Luis. One woman's shadow from whom she could never escape.

Luis eyed her sadly.

"Don't do this."

"Say it!", she spat struggling to hold back her tears.

Feeling that he owed her that much Luis finally said the words that would break his wife's heart.

"Sheridan, I slept with Sheridan" he said. "We didn't mean to hurt you."

Fancy rushed forward and slapped her husband as hard as she could.

"Fuck you Luis", she snapped. "Fuck you and your pretty little speech about how I saved you and showed you how to love again. Because when it comes down to it, that's the reason our marriage can't be saved, maybe it never had a chance to begin with. You can't be bothered to fix our marriage because you love Sheridan and you'll never love me the way you loved her".

"That's not fair Fancy," he said, his chest aching. "I did love you."

"Did you?", the blonde chuckled bitterly. "Maybe you did but not the way you love my Aunt Sheridan, a magical love that transcends lifetimes! How could I ever hope to compete?"

Luis winced at the icy sarcasm laced into her voice.

"You knew I was still in love with Sheridan when you got involved with me Fancy," he said unwilling to shoulder the blame alone.

"I did, she agreed. But I thought... I hoped that you would eventually move on from the woman who kept breaking your heart. And start over with me." "Dammit I tried to" Luis yelled. "God knows I tried to and for a few years we were happy together. But we grew apart Fancy you know we did."

"We were supposed to work on that together Luis, and I know I pushed you away at first." The heiress cried. "But you were supposed to fight for me, as desperately as you always fought for Sheridan". At the mention of her aunts' name, Fancy started to break down. Luis moved to comfort her, but Fancy swung out wildly against him sobbing.

"Don't you dare touch me!", She yelled "Just get out of here!"

"Fancy I'm not leaving until you calm down." Luis said.

"Just get the hell out of here!", She sobbed loudly.

Luis gently steered her back towards the kitchen table where she collapsed back into her chair, sobbing. The police officer looked around and grabbed the house phone dialing her mothers' number and placed the phone on the table. After a few rings Ivy answer to the sound of her daughters' heartbreaking sobs, demanding to know what was going on. Luis gently kissed her hair.

"God, I am so sorry Fancy," he whispered. He waited until her sobs lessened into whimpers and she began to fall asleep before he slipped out the back door.

…

Luis couldn't deny how awful he felt as she left the house he once shared with Fancy. While there was truth to Fancy's bitter words, he knew there was also truth to his. It would take time, but he knew she would eventually heal and so would he. He climbed inside his jeep, glad he'd already packed his bags. Luis gave one last look back as he started the jeep and pulled out of the driveway for the last time. He was going home


	14. Chapter 14

A few weeks later 

If Sheridan thought it would be happily ever after once Luis left Fancy, she’d certainly seen the error of her ways. Luis moped endlessly after he’d broken the news to Fancy and Sheridan could tell he was still hurting. They’d decided it was best for Marty if he didn’t move in right away. So, for now the police detective was spending most of his time outside of work with Sheridan and Marty though he was crashing at his mothers’ overnight. 

Luckily for the Crane heiress she hadn’t had to face the wrath of her brother and former sister in law yet, but she was sure it was coming. As for her niece, surprisingly Sheridan hadn’t heard from her yet either. Though the blonde loved her niece and felt guilty, she couldn’t help but feel that things were finally returning to the way they were supposed to be. What she didn’t know was how she could maintain her relationship with her family and Luis once things came to a head.   
She sighed as she wiped her brow. Sheridan was completing her morning jog around town and her mind had been racing almost as fast as she was. Luis had been out of town since yesterday for work and Sheridan was sure her son was still asleep. After racing past all her usual sights in Castleton, the blonde found herself back at her own front porch. Exhausted she plopped down on the porch to catch her breath for a moment. 

Maybe I’ll see what Gwen’s up to today, she thought as she headed inside. 

“Surprise!”, Marty yelled from the kitchen causing his mother to scream. 

“Martin Lopez Fitzgerald!”, She yelled following the voice. “You nearly scared me to death. What’s the surprise?” 

“The surprise is that I’m awake”, the teen replied biting into an apple. “and I’m packing duh”.  
After he closed the picnic basket he walked into the living room. 

“Don’t duh me Marty”, Sheridan warned following him. “I did not give you permission to go on a picnic anyway. Who are you going with...a girlfriend?”  
Marty blushed.  
“I- “ 

“Why would he need your permission for a family picnic,” Luis called appearing at the top of the stairs. 

“Luis?” the heiress said spinning around. “What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town for work.”

“I got back last night”, he said. “I thought this would be something fun for us to do together. You don’t have other plans, do you?”

“Please Mom”, Marty intervened. “Pop said we could drive out to the coast and maybe stay overnight.” 

Sheridan looked back and forth at Marty and Luis.

“That sounds amazing”, she smiled. 

“Awesome!”, the teen replied as he ran towards his room. “I’m going to grab my overnight bag and then we can go”. 

“Slow down buddy”, the police officer yelled. “Your moms’ got to get ready too”.

“I’m just going to shower and change”, Sheridan said quickly. “I’ll get everything else once we get there”. 

Luis gently pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.

“Maybe I should tell you to slow down too”, he said, and they shared a laugh. 

“No, I’m just happy to see you in a better place” Sheridan said, “and Marty’s so excited.” 

“I’m sorry about that it’s just- “, he began.

“Don’t apologize”, Sheridan interrupted. “I’ve been struggling with my feelings too. We are going to go through a million different emotions during this umm transition and Marty will too.” 

“I know you’re right”, Luis said hugged her closer. “I think while we’re there we should talk to him about everything. No matter what it’s important that we all try to get through this together.”

“I’d better go get ready before your son comes back”, Sheridan reluctantly pulled away and headed upstairs.

As she showered the heiress couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. Sure, happily ever after didn’t come overnight but maybe, maybe it was on its’ way.  
……………  
After his initial disbelief, Julian Crane had decided to listened to story of the man with his son’s face and slowly came to believe him. He knew from first-hand experience that nothing impossible when it came to Alistair. The Crane patriarch had been so outraged at his father’s deception he threatened to dig up his father and kill him again. Of course, Eve had been the one to calm her husband down and suggested that they do a DNA test on Fox just to be sure. While they waited for the results of the test Fox had sworn them all to secrecy despite everyone’s protest. Whitney had taken to visiting him every chance she got and kept him aware of the happenings in Harmony. 

Today Whitney and her children were on an early morning trip to the Crane Cabin visiting Fox. She’d told them his name was Nicholas and that he was a friend of hers, so the beauty didn’t necessarily feel that she was lying to them. Miles usually played his game while Chelsea was always happy to interact with Fox. She was one of the brighter spots in Whitney’s visits.

“Wow they’re both so beautiful”, Fox said admiring a picture of Jane and Chelsea.

“And Jane is most certainly her mother’s daughter”, Whitney chimed in. “Unfortunately for us.” 

“Chelsea is her mother’s daughter too,” the Crane heir said smiling softly. “So, Theresa finally has the family she dreamed of”.

“She does, and she would be so happy if you were a part of it”, the curly haired beauty said. “Little Ethan and Jane are your niece and nephew you know.” 

“Whitney”, Fox said his voice full of warning. 

“Fine I won’t push” she sighed and leaned back into the couch. “I’m just glad you’re seeing the therapist.” 

“Yeah that surely the highlight of my week”, he scoffed.

“It’s to get you ready Fox, once the DNA test comes back you won’t be able to hide up here anymore”, Whitney said gently. “Julian would’ve told Ivy days ago if only she’d answered the phone.” 

“I know that okay, he said “I just don’t know what’s going to happen when the truth comes out. Everyone seems so happy now, what if...what if...

“What if what honey?” Whitney prodded. “You can’t possibly think that having you back would make anyone unhappy or mess up anyone’s lives? Everyone is going to be thrilled to have you back. You’ll see, just a few more days and everyone will know that Fox Crane is alive! 

He smiled slightly as she hugged him and tried to relax into her arms. 

Whitney, I hope you’re right...  
...  
Over in Harmony at the popular restaurant Voila!, a mother and daughter sat having pastries and plotting.

“Well, have you filed the paperwork yet?”, Rebecca asked as she sipped her third glass of wine. 

“Not yet mother”, her daughter replied. “I’m meeting with the lawyer later this week”. 

“Honestly honey you’ve got to be more on top of things.”, the redhead chided. 

“Mother I just dropped Jonathan with Ethan a few days ago” Gwen snapped ad she stirred her coffee. 

It was too early for wine but clearly her mother didn’t feel the same.

“You dropped him off with Ethan and Theresa, who he thinks is mother”, Rebecca scoffed. “You’ve had time to go out with what’s his name but not to file for custody of my grandson?” 

Gwen held her tongue as a waiter came and took their order. No sooner than he was gone, the blonde gave her mother an icy glare. 

“My son knows that I am his mother”, she snarled. “I get enough of everyone else disregarding my position in Johnathan’s life. I will NOT put it with from you”. 

“Alright alright”, the redhead held her hands up in surrender. “I’m glad to see you’re still able to get fired up. Honestly all you do his sit at Sheridan’s and see that Dan guy. 

As another waitress filled their drinks, Gwen rolled her eyes she was used to her mother’s antics. 

“His name is Travis and I’ve been seeing him for months now”, She said trying to hide her smile. “I’m allowed to have a life you know” 

“Anyway”, Rebecca sighed sliding her phone over to her daughter. “Check these out, they’re going to help us with the custody suit.” 

As Gwen flipped through the pictures confusion washed over her.

“These are pictures of me and Ethan at Sarah’s burial site. How did you get these?”

“I took them from my hiding spot”, Rebecca shrugged. 

“Mother”, the blonde said voice full warning. 

“Gwennie listen”, her mother interrupted. “These photos will prove to judge that Ethan and Theresa’s happy little home isn’t so happy. You two look awful close in these pictures.” 

“Mother we were grieving over our daughter that’s it. And how dare you try to use my daughter in your twisted scheme”, Gwen erupted. “Do you realize that those pictures make me look as bad as Ethan? It’s one thing if he’s cheating with someone else that’s one thing, if he’s cheating with me that makes us both look bad.” 

The redhead thought for a moment before deflating at her daughter’s words. 

“Oh”, she pouted. 

The waiter brought out their brunch entree’s and the Hotchkiss women ate in silence. 

“Well I’ve still got the Charity secret to hold over Ivy,” Rebecca grumbled. “We’ll blackmail her into letting you spend more time with Jonathan.”

“I don’t know about that”, Gwen said.” I told Sheridan and she was not happy about it. She may have already spilled the beans”.

Rebecca clutched her chest dramatically and squeezed her daughters’ hand. 

“Gwennie please tell me you didn’t tell her everything.”

“I only told her that we ran into Charity and she had a little boy” the blonde replied snatching her hand away. “And that you thought he might be Miguel’s”. 

“Did you tell her about Ivy?”, the redhead demanded.

“No”, she said thoughtful. “She was so upset about the possibility that Miguel might have son that was being kept from him, I was afraid to say more”. 

“Good”, Rebecca sighed with relief. “That’s the only card we have to play at this point. But don’t worry this is Harmony after all and no matter how happy everyone appears to be they’re are secrets around here somewhere. Without JT around it’s up to us to find them and I won’t stop until I have the secret that will have Theresa and Ethan delivering Jonathan to you on a silver platter.” 

Gwen sighed heavily and raised her hand for the check, she’d had quite enough of her mother for one day.

A few hours later..  
Paloma Lopez Fitzgerald Bennet huffed with frustration as she made her way up the stairs to the restaurant Voila! She was off duty today and had planned to spend the day bonding with Joseph and Noah, which is why she’d suggested meeting with her older sister over breakfast. Unfortunately for her, her brother in law had decided to whisk his wife and children off for an out of town breakfast which left the sisters to meet for a late lunch. 

“Hey”, Theresa greeted smiling brightly. “It’s about time you got here”. 

“Hey”, her sister grumbled back taking a seat. “I was with Joseph and Noah at the park”. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, the older brunette said frowning. “Ethan completely surprised me this morning. But we’ll make this quick, so you can get back to your family.” 

The waiter came over and the two women quickly ordered their favorite chicken pastas and drinks. 

“Soo how’s everything going”, Theresa said pointedly earning a glare from Paloma. “You guys are spending time together does that mean- 

“I’m not talking about this with you Theresa”, the youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald snapped. “We’re here for Miguel.” 

“But I’m your sister,” the older brunette persisted. “You’re supposed to talk about things like this with me!

Paloma sipped her coke and eyed her sister warily. Minutes passed before she finally spoke.

“I don’t know okay, I think I just made a mistake you know.” she said. “Simone is or was one of my best friends. Ever since it became more things have just been weird between us.”

“So, you’re not in love with her?” Theresa questioned. 

“Of course not!”, she immediately exclaimed.

“Are you love with Noah?”, Theresa continued. 

The younger brunette sat stunned for a moment and before she could answer the waiter appeared with their lunch. Paloma immediately dug into her salad, thankful for a momentary reprieve from her sisters’ questions. They ate for a while before the police officer spoke again.

“What do you think we should do about the Charity situation?” she asked changing the subject. 

Theresa raised a brow at her sister but indulged her anyway. 

“I don’t know it all sounds suspicious to me, like someone set Miguel and Charity up to meet.”, she said thoughtfully. 

“Yeah” Paloma added setting down her fork. “What are the odds that Charity would be offered a job she says she never applied for in a town 20 minutes away from Harmony and Miguel?” 

“Exactly” Theresa said. “And to top it all off, Miguel suddenly shows up at her house? Someone has to be behind this.” 

“I’ve been trying to talk to Miguel about it, but he just brushed me off, Paloma said softly.

“Well was he upset that we knew about Elijah?”.

“No”, the younger brunette said. “He just asked us not to say anything to Kay until he had a chance to talk to her. He also said he didn’t have time to deal with Charity’s lies now that Kay and Maria are back”

Theresa whistled softly as their drinks were refilled. After the waiter left she spoke again.

“Boy he must be really upset with Charity. I’ve heard that Jessica is back in town too?”

“Yeah she and Sammy are in town for a visit”, the younger brunette said “Hopefully I can get together with her and Fancy while she’s here. It’ll be just like old times.”

Theresa smiled at the nostalgic look on her sisters’ face. 

“Hmm maybe you could mention it to Fancy and have her and Luis try talk to Miguel.” she said, “I don’t know why but the Harrison school seems familiar to me, I’ll ask Ethan to look into to it”.

“I just texted her, Paloma said finishing off her salad. “But I think Luis has got some stuff going on too. Fancy left me a message saying she needed to talk to me and we’ve been playing phone tag ever since.”

“Oh no I hope they’re okay”, Theresa groaned. “The last thing we need is another family crisis. Between you and Miguel- “

“Hey, Paloma interrupted. “My “crisis” is over. It was a lapse in judgment and I’m certainly not leaving Noah over a little fling.”

“So, you’ve told him, and you guys are going to work it out?”, the older brunette asked pointedly. 

The expression on Paloma’s face confirmed what Theresa already knew, she hadn’t told Noah anything. 

“Honey you’ve got to tell him before he finds out from someone else”, she warned. “That’ll make it so much worse”.

“I know, I know”, Paloma snapped. “You know all about secrets, I don’t need you to tell me that”.

Theresa stood and kissed her sisters’ cheek. 

“I love you and I just want you to be happy okay.”

“I love you too Theresita”, her little sister murmured and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry” 

“It’s okay honey, I’m going to the restroom I’ll be right back”.

“You’d better”, Paloma said pulling herself together as the waiter brought the check. “This lunch is on you”.   
....


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Passions!

Julian Crane sat in his office at Crane trying not to stare at the Manila envelope that had haunted him throughout the day. The DNA test results on “Fox” had come back and he hadn’t been able to open them yet. The Crane patriarch had asked his wife to come home early from the hospital for moral support. Julian couldn’t describe the way he felt, while he was bursting with anticipation Julian couldn’t deny that he was also afraid. And while He hadn’t allowed himself to get too close to the man who claimed to be his son, he hadn’t completely avoided him either. 

How in the world am I going to explain this to Ivy? he wondered. 

Originally, he’d planned to tell her right away, but Eve convinced him to wait and remembering how crushed Ivy was when Fox originally died he agreed. Better to spare her the pain of finding out this man was a fake. Suddenly he heard footsteps heading toward the office.

Finally, he thought picking up the envelope. We can find out one way or the other. 

“Darling I’m glad you’re here”, he said.

“Really?”, Ivy replied sauntering into the room. “Because I’m not.” 

Julian quickly moved the envelope behind other papers on his desk. He sighed heavily hoping she hadn’t noticed. 

“To what do I owe this displeasure?” he asked. 

“The displeasure is all mine Julian”. The blonde snarled getting in his face. “I’ll have you know that we still have two children and although we haven’t been the best parents I️ thought we were trying to make up for it!”

“Ivy I’ve been calling you- “

“So, you know, and you’ve done nothing?!”, Ivy questioned incredulously.

Julian was stunned. How did she know about Fox? 

“Ivy you know? H-how did you find out?” 

The blonde stared at her ex-husband as if he’d grown a second head. 

“Of course, I know”, Ivy snapped. “Unlike you I do make it a priority to know what’s going on in our daughters’ life.” 

The Crane patriarch stared at his ex-wife in utter confusion. 

“Honestly Julian you should have your perfect Dr. Eve examine your brain. I’m talking about Fancy!” 

So, she doesn’t know about Fox, he thought with relief. 

“Ahh of course Fancy”, he tried to recover. “She hasn’t been in all week, I’ve called her several times.” 

Julian pour both him and Ivy a drink to ease his nerves.

“Of course, she hasn’t been in! She may never come in again, Ivy lamented throwing her hands in the air. 

“She’s not hurt, is she?” 

“No, she’s not hurt Julian, she is devastated and it’s all your fault.”, The icy blonde ranted finally snatching her glass from his desk. 

“Ivy I know it’s difficult for you but stop the dramatics and tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Fancy is planning to move to Paris”, Ivy murmured sadly. 

“Well she does have a Crane Couture opening planned there”, Julian said failing to see this issue. “She and Luis may want to stay for a bit. You know how she and Pretty have always traveled, she’ll be fine.” 

“Julian, she says she’s not coming back this time”, Ivy said. “And now that Luis has left her there’s nothing to keep her in Harmony.” 

“Luis left Fancy?!”, he asked stunned. “Oh dear.” 

“Oh, dear is right”, his ex-wife fumed. “Luis has broken my little girls heart to go running back to Sheridan. The question is what are we going to do about it?”

Julian finished his drink in one long gulp. Thank god he and Ivy were divorced; the Crane patriarch couldn’t imagine dealing with her on a daily.

“Ivy what exactly can we do about it?”, the Crane patriarch questioned. “They’re all adults, and while I certainly don’t agree with what Sheridan and Luis did to Fancy, I don’t see what we can do about any of this.”

Ivy sulked quietly for a moment polishing off her own drink. 

“Well I don’t know either! But we have to do something, we cannot let Sheridan and Luis live happily ever after while our daughter suffers.” 

Sensing where the conversation was going Julian grabbed Ivy by the shoulders.

“Whatever you’re thinking stop it”, he warned. “Our meddling is only going to make things worse” 

“Oh, I am not going to stand around and do nothing Julian”, Ivy snatched away from him. 

“Fine but you’ll do it without me”, he said. “I’m going to try to help Fancy get through this, you just be careful that your plotting and scheming doesn’t cost you Sam..again” 

The blonde blanched but quickly recovered. 

“That’s what this is really about isn’t it”, she said eyeing her ex-husband with disgust. “Rather than help our daughter through one of the most challenging times in her life, you’re worried about what Saint Eve would think.”

“That’s not why I’m not getting involved with your little scheme”, Julian snapped as he returned the alcohol and glasses to their proper place.   
“And I resent the implications that I can’t think for myself. You know dear, unlike you I’ve learned something over the years and that’s to let things happen as they will. Our interference will only make things worse and possibly hurt Fancy more than she already is.” 

Julian eyed his watch, Eve should’ve been here by now. Ivy took this as a dismissal and narrowed her eyes.

“This isn’t over Julian”, she snapped and stormed out of his office. 

The Crane patriarch sighed and turned his attention back to the Manila envelope, still unopened.

“No, my dear I’m sure this is only the beginning.”   
....  
Across town

Paloma Lopez-FitzGerald Bennet paced the floors of her home in disbelief. She’d finally gotten in touch with Fancy but before she could make her request concerning Miguel/Charity her sister in law had jumped into a retelling of her own current drama. 

“Aye I’m so sorry Fancy, I really can’t believe Luis did this.” 

The youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald bit her lip guiltily, honestly, she could. She’d always known there had been an intense love between her brother and Sheridan. She’d seen it herself when they came to México. The brunette had just hoped Luis and Fancy’s love might overcome it. 

“Fancy running off to Paris isn’t going to solve anything”, Paloma continued. “You need to stay here and try to sort things out for your own sake. Alright but at least meet me for lunch so we can talk before you make any more decisions?”

The blonde acquiesced and the two shared heartfelt I love yous’ before hanging up. 

Paloma sighed as she looked around her living room and started cleaning. On strongly worded advice from her mother, she’d reduced her work hours to spend more time with her family. She’d enjoyed every minute with Noah and Joseph, but her affair with Simone still lingered in the back of her mind. 

Although she was certain she didn’t want to continue it, the brunette still hadn’t told Noah and was worried the entire situation would blow up in her face.

Is this how Theresa felt? Always walking on eggshells waiting for everything to fall apart? Paloma thought.

A ringing at the doorbell interrupted her thought and she was grateful for the temporary distraction. Her gratefulness evaporated as she opened the door to the one person she’d been avoiding for months, Simone Russell.  
.....  
Meanwhile

Theresa Lopez-FitzGerald Winthrop entered her mother’s house with Jonathan on her hip. The 5-year-old was recently returned from a long visit with Gwen and was clinging to Theresa more than usual. The brunette couldn’t help but to painfully wonder if he clung to Gwen the same way when he visited her.

“Mommy!”, Jane cried interrupting her thoughts and nearly knocking her down.

“Hi sweetheart”, Theresa cooed as she set Johnathan down and hugged his sister. “I hope you’re ready to come home because Daddy and I miss you” 

“No way”, the little girl cried “Maria’s here and her cousin from Texas too!” 

Pilar walked into the room looking exhausted with Maria and Sammy behind her. 

“Hi Theresita, yes Jane is going home with you and Miguel is coming to pick up Maria and Sammy too.” 

“You heard your abuela”, Theresa said. “You guys better go play while you can!” 

That lead to loud screams and the sound of running towards the playroom. The two women sat down, and the young brunette made a mental note to keep the kids with her more often, her mother seemed exhausted. Before she could comment on her mother’s condition Theresa felt a sharp pain in her side. 

“Ow!” the brunette yelled hopping her from her seat. 

“Aye sorry mija, your brother must’ve left his pants. 

Confused Theresa reached down into the couch and pulled out a pair of navy blue policeman’s slacks. Sure enough the belt buckle was sticking out. 

“Mama, aren’t these Luis’ pants? Why would they be buried in your sofa?”

Pilar sighed heavily and brought her oldest up to speed on another Lopez-FitzGerald Crisis.   
......  
Paloma stood shell shocked at the sight of her former lover. How could Simone be so bold to show up at her house like this? Her husband and son were upstairs sleeping! Just as the police officer was about to rip into Simone, Jessica Bennett McCoy popped up from behind her.

“Surprise!”, the pregnant young woman yelled unaware of the tension. 

“Oh my god!”, Paloma screamed hugging her friend. “Jessica! You look so amazing!” 

“So do you”, Jessica said as she pulled Simone into the hug. “I’ve missed you guys so much.” 

The pregnant woman failed to notice her sister in law pull away at Simone’s touch. 

“All we’re missing is Fancy and the gang will be back together again!”, Simone said.

The three women laughed and sat down to reflect on the younger years traipsing through Rome and raising hell in Harmony. 

“No more stories”, Jessica pleaded as she laughed and rubbed her swollen stomach. “I’ll be in tears soon, I’m extremely emotional right now.” 

Simone laughed and asked the youngest Bennet about the baby’s gender. 

“Hopefully a baby girl! Matthew and I are think of naming her Grace”, Jessica replied softly.

She was really missing her husband. 

“That’s a really good idea Jess”, Paloma said giving Jessica a hug. “Noah and I will fly out to see her once she’s born.”

”Thanks, and where are my brother and nephew”, she said changing the subject. 

“Upstairs napping, someone was supposed to be putting Joseph to sleep but never came back”, Paloma rolled her eyes and laughed. 

“I’m glad you guys are so happy”, Jessica smiled and stood up. “I’m going to go wake them up!” 

She waddled up the stairs before her sister in law could stop her. No sooner than she was out of the room did Simone turned to face the woman who’d been avoiding her for months. 

“What aren’t you going to run upstairs to avoid me”, she asked with attitude. 

“I have no reason to avoid you Simone”, the brunette snapped getting up from the sofa. 

Simone scoffed. 

“Honestly Paloma you know you’ve been avoiding me, dodging my calls and we both know why”.

“Now is not the time”, the police officer ground out giving Simone a nasty glare. 

“When is the time? Apparently, your mother clearly knows since she ordered my mother to keep me away from you. Is she the reason you’re doing this?” 

Paloma ran her hands through her hair, she was thoroughly frustrated and trying to keep her voice down.

“My mama has nothing to do with this!” she snapped. “I decided that I want to keep my family together, to give Joseph what I didn’t have. I care about you and I always will, but as a friend Simone.” 

“Friends don’t do what we did”, Simone said stubbornly. “I don’t care what you say Pilar is behind this. Look at you, putting your career at risk to play wife and mother. You’ve always been adventurous and ready to live on the wild side- 

“I’m not playing wife and mother I am one!”, the brunette interrupted. “That’s something you can never seem to understand.”

Simone reeled back as if she’d been slapped. 

“Fine,” she said quietly and stepped closer to Paloma. ” I see you’ve convinced yourself that you’ll be happy living boringly ever after. But I’m not fooled and the real reason why you’re so angry is because deep down you’re not fooled either.

The nurse turned and stormed out of the house, leaving her shaken former lover behind.   
....  
At Pilar’s

“Wow Luis and Sheridan are really back together?” Theresa said as she handed her mother a cup of tea. 

“Aye mija and I don’t know whether to be happy for them or not”, the matriarch sighed clutching her cup.

“Don’t worry so much about us mama”, the younger brunette pleaded. “Everything will work out, I promise.”

“I’m not so sure Theresita, I’m so worried about Fancy and Miguel has not been to see my grandson either. Your sister is at least trying to do the right thing.”

Theresa went to check on the children while gathering her thoughts. Once she returned she gave her mother a hug.

“Mama I know you mean well but sometimes what you want for us isn’t always best.”

The brunette held her hands up before her mother could protest. 

“Just hear me out, Luis and Sheridan have always loved each other. Maybe this time it’ll work out for them and they can be a family with Marty just like they always wanted. Fancy will always be a part of our family and hopefully she’ll be able to move on and be happy”, Theresa said. 

“Paloma is a grown woman and we have to let her live her own life. But I am worried about Miguel” 

“So, you know I spoke with Charity”, Pilar said. ” And she told me that your brother has not even called to check on his son!”

Theresa brushed her hair back and shook her head. Before the brunette could reply the subject of their conversation walked into the house. 

“Hey, are Maria and Sammy ready to go”, Miguel asked looking tired.

The women only glared and neither replied. 

“What?”, he sighed sitting in the recliner. “This better not be about Charity.” 

“It has nothing to do with her and everything to do with you not seeing my grandson!”, Pilar spat.

Miguel had the decency to hang his head.

“Mama you don’t understand- “

“I don’t care! Whatever you and Charity have going on is no excuse for you to neglect your responsibility as a father. It was one thing when you did not know about him, but know you are willingly absent from his life! I never expected you to follow your Father’s footsteps.” 

The two Lopez-Fitzgerald children stared at their mother, stunned at her words. 

“Mama!”, Theresa admonished but Pilar was already storming from the room. 

Miguel was heading in the opposite direction when Theresa grabbed his arm and pulled him into hers. 

“She doesn’t mean it Miguel, she’s just upset”, Theresa said holding her broken-hearted brother. ” She just doesn’t understand that you’re upset too. You’ve got to deal with your wife and a son you never knew about. And I know you’re hurt and angry, but you’ve got to find a way to move past this for your sons’ sake.” 

Theresa walked Miguel to the door.

“Look why don’t I drop Sammy and Maria off at home. You should go and talk to Luis, you know he gives the best advice. He should be a Sheridan’s place in they just came back from their trip.” 

“Luis and Sheridan are on a trip? Together?”, Miguel was growing more confused by the minute.

“I’m sure he’ll explain everything,” Theresa said ushering him towards the door. “Now go see Luis, I’ll text you Charity’s number. It’ll be hard, but you know we’ll always be here for you.”

Miguel gave his sister a tearful hug and thanked her for all her help. As the youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald brother headed off, Theresa sighed heavily and prayed that things would work out for both him and Luis. 

Looks like Paloma and I are on our own investigating Charity’s arrival. she thought. The brunette shot quick texts to her sister and husband concerning the situation before grabbing the children and allowing her mother some much-needed rest.  
.....

Up at the Crane Mansion, the doctor and her husband opened a Manila envelope and learned the truth about Fox Crane.


	16. Chapter 16

The next day Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald was still in a world wind as he arrived at the home of his former sister in law. Sheridan answered the door and was slightly surprised at her guest. 

“Miguel, how are you?”, she asked sympathetically. 

“Um I’m fine, have you spoken to Mama or my sisters?”, he asked.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that Sheridan knew everything. 

“Uh no we were out of town, just got back home yesterday”, the blonde smiled. “Come on in.” 

As Miguel entered the house he was surprised to see his brother and nephew roughhousing in the living room and playing video games. Marty noticed him first. 

“Uncle Miguel!”, he shouted dropping his controller. 

Luis took the opportunity to lap his character and win the game.

“You snooze you lose”, he laughed infuriating his son.

“Mom!” Marty yelled. “Dad’s cheating again!” 

“Enough you two we have a guest”, Sheridan scolded. “No more games if you can’t get along” 

“Alright you heard your mom. Let’s clean up, we’ll play later”, the police officer said. 

“Sorry Miguel”, the blonde smiled. “Can I get you anything?” 

“Some water is fine, he said. “I actually needed to talk to Luis.” 

“No problem”, Sheridan replied as she headed to the kitchen. “Marty if you clean up, we’ll go out for ice cream later okay?”

“Is Pop coming too?”, the teen asked as he plopped down on the sofa.

“Of course I am, now clean up the living room and your room”, Luis said as he got the water from Sheridan.

The two Lopez Fitzgerald men headed outside and Miguel let out a low whistle. 

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you three were the happiest family in Castleton”, he said. 

“Yeah well, we’re working on it”, Luis said with a half-smile. 

He brought his little brother up to speed on the end of his marriage to Fancy and how he’d reconciled with Sheridan. Miguel whistled again.

“So, you’ve filed for divorce? I mean how did Fancy take it?” 

“Yeah, I’ve filed, and she was devastated. We haven’t spoken much since, but she’s angry with me and angry with Sheridan and she has every right to be”, Luis said looking down.   
“But it was something I had to do, Sheridan and I’d fallen in love again. I don’t think we’d ever stopped loving each other and it got to the point where I couldn’t bare to be without her. I wanted my family back and luckily for me Sheridan wanted it to.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, Miguel was more than amazed by how quickly everything had changed for his brother

“I’m sorry that Fancy’s hurt”, he said. “but I’m glad that you’re happy, really happy and making a family for Marty.” 

The two shared a brotherly hug. 

“Thanks bro but I don’t think that’s why you came”, Luis said. “Talk to me about what’s going on with you.” 

As Miguel unloaded his own issue to his older brother a range of emotions overtook the older Lopez Fitzgerald. Everything from shock to anger to sympathy flooded Luis’ mind and it was a few moments before he could speak. 

“Wow, I don’t even know what to say, I couldn’t imagine!” Luis said. 

“Now Mama and Theresa are upset with me for not seeing him”, Miguel continued. “but how do I stomach Charity after what she’s done”? 

Luis shook his head and gave his brother a hug.

“I understand your anger, but you still have a responsibility to Elijah. I don’t know maybe Mama or one of the girls could do the drop offs and pickups until you and Charity come to an agreement”

The younger Lopez-Fitzgerald ran his hands through his hair and Luis could sense his frustration.

“Either way we’ve got to get into his life now while he’s young. I mean what’s Kay saying about all this?”

Miguel’s silence confirmed Luis’ fears. 

“Oh man, you’ve got to tell her before someone else does. Our family already knows, how much longer do you think it’ll be before someone else finds out?”, the police officer demanded.

“I know but Kay and Maria just got home from Texas and we were supposed to be making a fresh start and now this”, Miguel sighed. “My marriage might be over for good.” 

“Wasn’t it hanging on by a thread when they left?” Luis said earning himself a glare. 

“Hey, I’m just saying don’t make a saint out of Kay just because you’re angry with Charity.” 

“I need to clear my head” Miguel brushed his brother’s comment off and polished off his water. “I’m going to hit the gym.” 

“Hey, do what you need to do”, the older Lopez-Fitzgerald said. “But as men, we always handle our responsibilities. Get a handle on things before this blows up.” 

“You’re right bro I’m going to talk to Kay”, the young business owner agreed. “And try to get one of the girls to help deal with Charity”. 

“That’s what I like to hear, and you can always crash at moms or here at Sheridan’s if push comes to shove.”

The door to the house opened and Marty stuck his head out.

“Dad, can we go now? Charlie’s shop is gonna close soon, he yelled. 

Marty suddenly disappeared, and the door slammed as quickly as it had opened, the two men could hear Sheridan inside giving Marty an earful on minding his manners. 

Miguel couldn’t help but laugh and Luis clapped him on his shoulders as they walked to his truck.

“See bro, that right there makes every hurt, every tear worth it”.  
...  
Back in Harmony 

Theresa and Whitney were catching up over a light lunch at the Sam and Ivy’s cafe. The brunette hadn’t seen much of her best friend lately and she definitely had a lot to fill in her in on. 

“Whitney, I’ve barely seen you lately what’s been going on?”, she complained.

“I’m sorry honey”, Whitney said as the waiter brought their drinks. “I’ve just had a lot going on lately, but I wanted to thank you for looking after Chelsea and Miles as much as you have. 

“They’re my niece and nephew Whit”, Theresa said. “and I can’t take all the credit. They’ve been with my mom and Ivy too. Believe me you’re not the only one with a lot going on.” 

After swearing her best friend to secrecy, the brunette brought Whitney up to speed on everything from Miguel and Charity to Luis and Fancy. To say the widow was shocked was an understatement. And Whitney thought she had a lot going on.

“I mean I’m just blown away”, she said after a few moments.” Luis and Fancy are over? I mean how is she taking it? And Miguel and Charity have a child? “ 

“No one but our family know about Miguel and Charity”, Theresa interrupted. “I’m not sure that Miguel’s even told Kay. And I haven’t spoken to Fancy, but I know she’s heartbroken. I’m hoping to speak with her soon or at least Paloma will.” 

The waiter brought their orders and the women began to dig in. After a few moments Whitney picked up the conversation again. 

“Speaking of Paloma, what’s going on with our sisters?”

“According to Paloma nothing”, the brunette replied taking a bite of her sandwich. “She doesn’t really want to talk about it and swears she’s focused on building a family with Noah. Has Simone confided in you?”

“Not really”, Whitney said sipping her iced tea. “I’ve been really busy lately but last week I know she was going out with someone named Alexis.” 

Theresa signaled to the waiter for dessert. Whitney raised an eyebrow.

“Theresa honey are you eating for two?”, she questioned eyeing her best friend. “Of course, not I skipped breakfast”, she exclaimed. “Hmm”, was all Whitney said. “Now tell me why you’ve been so busy lately is it a new guy?” 

The tennis coach flashed back to finding Fox in the basement of her house, to getting to know him all over again. Then she flashed to just this morning when she and Eve watched 

Julian Crane cry and embrace his son after the DNA test revealed what Whitney’d known all along. 

“Yeah I guess you could say that”, Whitney said softly. 

Theresa squealed. 

“Whit! Spill everything! What’s his name and when can I meet him?”, the brunette exclaimed. 

The widow held up her hands to stop her friends’ growing excitement. 

“All I’ll say is that his name is Nicholas, the kids call him Nick and you’ll meet him soon.”

“Fine I’ll take that tidbit of information for now”. Theresa said digging into her dessert. “But you know I’m going to be all over this until I meet him”. 

“I’m sure it’ll be a day you’ll never forget”, Whitney said as she called for the check.  
....  
Across town

Ethan Winthrop was at the office working on his caseload at top speed. The lawyer was hoping to get done earlier so that he could get home to his family. Their out of town breakfast the other week was perfect, and he wanted the five of them to spend more time together. It seemed that things for the couples in Harmony were quickly unraveling and the lawyer wanted his family as far away as possible when things ultimately came to a head. Maybe they’d take an extended vacation.

Ethan Jr. was even in the office with him today, filing papers and helping his assistant with whatever she needed. The lawyer couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed watching his oldest son work around the office, he hoped the boy would grow to have an interest in law and maybe even follow in his footsteps. Ethan finished up the paperwork and put the case he was working on away, confident he would win the case for the corporation he was representing tomorrow.

A few minutes later, Ethan Jr popped into his office. “Hey dad so you need anything”, he asked. 

“Uh I think I’m good buddy”, the lawyer replied. “But you were great today. We’ll stop on the way home and get a treat for everyone.” 

“Awesome I want donuts”, Ethan Jr cheered. “Oh wait”, he pulled out his phone. “Mom wanted me to remind you to check into Harrison school or something.” 

“That’s right”. Ethan remembered, and he hopped onto his computer. “It’ll just be a minute longer.”

The lawyer frowned, he wasn’t happy about what Miguel had done to his half-sister. What’s worse was that his sister didn’t even know yet. 

“Okay, I’ll wait up front” his son replied and started to leave. “Oh, and did you know that grandma said we’re Harrisons too? By Grandma’s dad and he was the governor of the   
whole state! 

“I know, it’s pretty cool huh”, he smiled as Little Ethan closed the door. 

The lawyer continued typing and as he read up on the Harrison school in Castleton he felt his blood run cold. The school’s website stated that it was named in honor of the former governor of New England and showed that his mother had once sat on the board of trustees. 

Could it be a coincidence? he thought as he researched further. It must be! There’s no way Mother would do something so underhanded. 

But then slowly, painfully, Ethan realized that she would. 

He lowered his head as he flashed back to his wife questioning Charity’s random job offer and slowly realized that Ivy was behind everything. Theresa was right, what kind of teaching job came with a fully furnished house? 

Ethan felt his rage building and threw the laptop, the screen shattered as it slid to floor. 

“Damn it!” He snapped. 

He didn’t want to believe mother had purposely brought Charity to town in order to destroy his sisters’ marriage. He knew she still irrationally blamed Kay for Fox’s death, but to take things this far? And what about Miguel’s son? Did she have a hand in that as well?

A knocking at the door snapped the lawyer out of his fury. 

“I’ll be out in a minute Ethan, he said struggling to calm himself. 

“Dad there’s someone else to see you.” 

The door opened a serious looking man walked into the room and handed the lawyer some paperwork. 

“Ethan Winthrop you’ve been served!”, he said and walked out of the office. 

“What?”, He looked through the paperwork and was stunned to see that Gwen had filed a petition for full custody of Jonathan. 

When it rained it poured  
....

At Fancy’s House, night was falling and Paloma and Jessica we’re trying to convince the heiress of all the reasons she had to stay in Harmony. 

“Look guys I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know”, she said. “But there’s no way I can stay in Harmony right now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch Sheridan and Luis live happily ever after day after day.”

“I understand that Fancy, but I don’t think they’re living together yet. And even so they’ll be in Castleton?”, Paloma offered weakly. 

“No matter where you are you’ll still know their together. Maybe being in Paris will lessen the hurt a little bit”, Jessica offered. 

Paloma shot her an angry look. 

“Hey, I’m just being honest”, the pregnant woman held up her hands. “Of course, we want you here and your family wants you here but if it’s best for you to go to Paris for the grand opening then maybe you should.”

Paloma and Fancy were tearing up.

“Sometimes the best thing for a person is getting out of Harmony.”, Jessica continued. “I mean look at me, I moved to Texas met the love of my life and got myself together. Just promise that you won’t go without dealing with things here first. And promise that you’ll come back and soon!” 

Fancy rubbed Jessica’s stomach and smiled. 

“I hate to say it but maybe Jess is right. I just love you so much and I don’t want you to go and maybe that’s selfish, but I know your family feels the same way”, Paloma cried. 

“But you can’t go without telling Sheridan and Luis how you feel. I love them, and I want them to be happy too but what they did to you was wrong. And now I have to lose my best friend and just when Jessica’s back.” 

The three women hugged and shared a few more tears. 

“You’re not losing me sweetheart I promise”, Fancy swore. “I’m just going to open the new store and relax and get myself together. I’ll be back soon, I’ve got to be here when Gracie’s born.” 

“Hopefully sooner rather than later”, Jessica tried to lighten the mood.

“Now enough tears”, Paloma declared. 

“Right” the blonde agreed climbing off the couch. “I’ve cried enough lately. We are having a girl’s night which means movies, pjs and all the junk food we can eat!”

As Paloma and Fancy headed upstairs to get the needed supplies, Jessica shouted out her movie requests. As she struggled to get comfortable on the couch Paloma’s phone rang. 

As Jessica grabbed the phone she was stunned to see Charity’s name flashing across the screen. 

“Charity”, she yelled into the phone. “Is that really you? Where are you?”


	17. Chapter 17

A few days later

Jessica sat nervously in a small diner a few towns away from Harmony. She risen before the sun that morning and quickly snuck out of her childhood home. Her son Sammy was safely tucked away at Kay’s and her baby still rested comfortably in her womb. The time for her to enter the world was coming soon, the brunette could already feel the telltale signs. The expectant mother looked around again for her breakfast companion but saw no one.

After she’d discovered her cousins’ number in Paloma’s phone, Jessica had repeatedly reached out begging to see her. The brunette had reminded her cousin that they had both lost their mothers and they owed it to them to at least stay in touch with each other. Finally, Charity agreed to meet with her as long as she swore not to say anything to anyone else. The pregnant woman checked her phone for the umpteenth time and sighed with the resignation that her cousin wasn’t going to show up. As she made to leave the bell of the diner door rang and in walked Charity Standish. 

Though she looked a bit frazzled, Jessica couldn’t deny that her blonde cousin was as beautiful as ever. Charity looked the same physically but there was also something different about her. She had a more seasoned, more mature look about her.

I suppose giving up the love of your life will do that to you, Jessica thought.

Charity rushed over to the brunette and gave her a hug.

“Look at you! I’m so sorry I’m late”, the blonde gushed. “I-uh had something to take care of”.

“No problem I’m just glad you came”, Jessica replied. “It’s been so long!” 

“I know and I’m sorry about that”, Charity said as she sat down. 

The two women ordered drinks and looked over the menu.

“I’m just going to get a sandwich”, the blonde said quietly. “I can’t stay long.” 

“That’s okay,” Jessica smiled as she reached across the table to grab Charity’s hand. “I’m just happy to see you. I was so surprised when I saw your name on Paloma’s phone and I just knew I had to reach out to you.” 

“I wasn’t sure about us meeting at first”, Charity admitted. “but I’m glad you reached out to me. I uh ran into Paloma in Castleton a while ago and we uh just kept in touch. I haven’t really let anyone else know because I didn’t want to cause problems.”  
Jessica covered Charity’s hands with her own again. 

“We can put the past in the past, I mean we are family.”

“I’m not so sure- “, Charity interrupted.

“I’m speaking for myself Charity not anyone else”, Jessica said. “I forgive you for anything that happened in the past and I’m apologizing for anything I’ve done to hurt you.” 

Charity tried to swallow the wave of guilt she felt and gave her cousin a half smile. She really wished they could be close again.

“I’m going to have a relationship with you Charity Standish, so you might as well fall in line!”, Jessica demanded.

The blonde laughed as their orders arrived and the two women dug into their breakfast. They caught up on small talk carefully avoiding any mention of Miguel and Kay. Soon hours had passed, and Charity’s phone began to ring. 

“I’m so sorry”, she exclaimed to whoever’d called. “Time got away from me, tell him I love him, and I’ll be there soon!” 

The blonde hung up and began to gather her things.

“Ohh new boyfriend?” Jessica questioned wriggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

“Not exactly”, the blonde replied looking away. “This has been really great Jessica, but I’ve got to go. I’m going to text you later okay? There’s something I really need to talk to you about” 

“Can’t you just tell me now?”, Jessica rubbed her stomach confused. 

“No, I’m sorry I’m really late for something important, Charity said. 

She placed money for both their tabs on the table and was out the door before Jessica could say another word.

“Please don’t disappear on me again Charity”, Jessica whispered softly.  
…..  
In Castleton

Sheridan Crane was on her usual morning run through Castleton. She smiled happily, thinking of how things had fallen into a routine for her family. Her cheeks glowed as she   
thought of sharing meals and going on outings with Luis and Marty. On their trip to the coast they’d decided to talk with Marty and see if he was okay with his parents reuniting and them living together a family. The growing teen was thrilled with the idea of his father living with him full time. But he had some questions about Fancy that were difficult for his parents to answer. 

Suddenly her cell phone began to ring snapping Sheridan out of her thoughts. It was her best friend Gwen, asking if she could come over and talk later. The blonde quickly agreed, knowing that Jonathan had gone back to Ethan and Theresa. 

Gwen had informed her that she was meeting with Travis that afternoon and wanted to come by afterward to talk. While Sheridan knew it was still early in their relationship she’d hoped that Travis and Gwen would make things official and settle down soon. From what the Crane heiress had seen, Travis adored Gwen and was helping the woman move past her hurt. Something she desperately needed to do. They’d all made mistakes back then, when they were young and fearless, and Sheridan felt that they all deserved another chance to be happy. If she and Theresa could move past their misdeeds why couldn’t Gwen?

After the blonde arrived at her two-story home, she showered and grabbed a muffin for a late breakfast. The house was quiet with Luis over in Harmony at the police station and 

Marty already at the rec center. Before Sheridan could get comfortable, someone began pounding on the door. 

“I’m coming!”, she said cheerfully moving to open her front door. 

However, before she could open it, the door swung quickly almost hitting Sheridan. The heiress’ surprise turned into resignation as she recognized an unsmiling Ivy in her doorway. 

“I’m sorry Sheridan”, she said her voice dripping with false concern. “Are you alright?” 

The icy blonde pushed the door closed and looked around Sheridan’s house, her nose in the air. 

“What are you doing here Ivy?”, the blonde demanded. 

“Oh?”, Ivy looked behind her. “Were you expecting someone else? My daughters’ husband perhaps?” 

“Get out!”, the heiress ordered brushing past Ivy towards the door. 

The icy blonde grabbed her by the arm and forced Sheridan to face her. 

“Not until you hear what I have to say.”

“I don’t give a damn what you have to say”, Sheridan snapped snatching her arm away from Ivy. “I know you’re here to speak for Fancy but she’s an adult. What happened between the three of us is between us, not you Ivy”.

The Crane heiress grabbed the door knob and opened it, letting her former sister in law know the conversation was over.

“My my look at you”, Ivy cocked her head to one side. “You’ve finally stopped playing the damsel and grown a backbone.” 

The heiress held her head up high, determined not to let Ivy Crane of all people judge her. Ivy stepped up and prepared to leave but stop and leaned closer to Sheridan, her blues eyes glistening coldly.

“Just keep in mind Sheridan, bones break easily.” 

The icy blonde brushed passed her former sister in law and headed out the door. Long after Ivy was gone Sheridan could hear the icy warning ringing in her head…

“Bones break easily”  
...  
That afternoon 

Theresa Winthrop put on a bright smile as she headed into her husband office. Something was bothering Ethan, it had been for days, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her what it was. The brunette however had had enough and decided to try a different tactic. She brought some of her mothers’ home cooking in an attempt to break down her husbands’ wall.   
She found him hard at work with papers strewn about.

“Hi, I brought you lunch”, Theresa said looking for a place to put. 

“Hey beautiful”, he gave her a tired smile. 

He pointed to his computer desk and advised her to set the food there.

“How’d it go in court earlier this morning?”, the brunette asked as she began to rub his shoulders. 

“As well as can be expected”, Ethan replied. “The Wilson corporation still isn’t budging even though they’re completely liable. I expect to win if they don’t settle.” 

“Of course, you will, Theresa smiled as she kissed her husbands’ cheek. 

Ethan sat his pen down and pulled her into his lap. 

“We really need to talk”, he murmured into her hair. 

“I know that’s why I came”, Theresa replied hugging him close. “I’m worried about you, worried about us.” 

“Don’t”, he warned. “You don’t ever have to worry about us. Even if everything around us falls apart we’ll be fine, we’ll be together, and we’ll find a way to be happy. I promise.” 

“I love you”, she sniffed holding him tightly. 

“I love you too and I’ll tell you everything tonight”, the lawyer said. “It’s not going to be pretty, but we’ll get through it okay. 

“We’ll get through it,” Theresa agreed and kissed him again. 

“Now Let’s eat, I’m hungry.”   
...  
At the Crane Mansion

Whitney, Fox and Julian Crane sat up at the Crane Mansion discussing the upcoming party at the mansion. Eve was, as always, need at the hospital. They were planning to reveal to   
the citizens of Harmony that Fox Crane was still alive at said party. Whitney and Eve were completely against the plan, but Fox and his father had decided that it was the best course of action.

The Crane men felt that this way everyone would know at one time and Fox would not have to keep repeating the story of his horrific kidnapping. The Crane heir had been seeing Eve along with a psychiatrist since his return, but everyone was tight lipped about his progress. But if he was feeling social enough to have a party, Whitney would support him. 

To Whitney, he seemed to be similar to his old self, but he also had flashes of anger that hadn’t been there before. He’d met her kids and got along well with them and. There were even times when the tennis coach could see the four of them living happily as a family, but she quickly brought herself back to reality. Technically, Fox was still married to Kay at the time of his presumed death, and Whitney didn’t even want to think of the issues that would cause when it came out that Fox was alive. She wasn’t sure about her feelings for Fox anyway, she never had been. And what about his feelings for her?

“Whitney what do you think?”, Fox called bringing her back to the present.

“I think we should wait on your mother”, she called cheerfully. 

“Why can’t she find out at the party like everyone else?”, Fox grumbled looking through the magazines. 

“Because she’s your mother”, Julian said looking up from his desk. “And I will not be held responsible for keeping you from her.” 

“You been divorced for years and you’re still afraid of her huh”, Fox scoffed. 

“Never afraid son”, the Crane patriarch replied. “But always aware.” 

Whitney smiled and checked her watch. 

Where was Ivy?  
….  
Castleton Park  
Gwen Hotchkiss sat nervously on the park bench where she’d met Travis all those months ago. She’d taken a chance on him and maybe on herself and it’d been the best decision   
Gwen had ever made. He was unreal, like something out of a fairytale with his deep green eyes and a smile that made her heart jump. It had taken the blonde months to let the wall around her heart come down enough to trust him.

Finally, she had, and he’d turned out to be everything a girl could dream of, everything she’d dreamt Ethan would be. But this man was honest, this man was trustworthy and this man, this man loved only her. Or so she’d thought.

Gwen enjoyed her relationship with Travis because he respected her boundaries. He knew the living hell she’d been through with Ethan and Theresa and he understood that when she had her time with Jonathan she was devoted only to him. They’d been on numerous dates and out of town trips when she didn’t have Jonathan. But when Travis called earlier and told her he wanted to meet and discuss something very important, Gwen was sure their relationship was ending. 

Maybe she’d put too much on the man, he was busy running his software company and maybe he didn’t understand. So what if he was breaking up with her? She still had her son and Sheridan and her mother and this awful ache in her chest! The blonde sighed heavily and ran her hands through her hair. Where was he?

About 20 minutes later her boyfriend came walking up to the bench, his arms full and sat down. As she turned to face him Gwen was instantly ill. So, this was what he wanted to talk to her about? 

“Listen”, the handsome man began recognizing the shock on her face. “I don’t know what you’re thinking but I do want a chance to explain. I wasn’t truthfully with you but-” 

The blonde tried to focus on what Travis was saying but all she could see was the pink bundle in his arms. The man she was falling for was holding a sleeping baby girl no more than a year old or two. 

“She’s mine”, Travis said growing worried by Gwen, who seemed to be hyperventilating. “I know I told you I didn’t have kids. I’m sorry but I wanted to be sure about us before I introduced you. Gwen? Please say something.”

The sandy blonde lowered his head and whispered. 

“Please... I don’t want to lose you.”

Gwen sat silently with tears rolling down her cheeks. As she watched the sleeping girl, her chest rising and falling, Gwen knew she could love her. She could love her and care for her like she was her very own. Gwen also knew that after all she’d lost, she couldn’t bear to love another child and lose her. The heartbroken blonde leaned forward and kissed the man she was falling in love, she grabbed her purse. 

And then, Gwen ran.  
…..

Several hours later, Gwen Hotchkiss was still pacing the floor of her Castleton home. She’d returned from Sheridan’s house a few hours prior, and after pouring her heart out to her best friend Gwen was still in shock.

How could he? 

How could he drop that kind of bomb on her and expect everything to be okay? 

He knew the hell she’d been through, the children she’d lost! Gwen couldn’t allow herself to get close to that beautiful little girl because when things eventually fell apart, she   
knew she couldn’t bear to lose her. The blonde knew she needed to focus on the custody suit, she would just have to end things with Travis.

Yes, she’d- 

A knocking at the door interrupted her thoughts. It couldn’t be-

“Gwen open the door”, Travis called out. “I know you’re in there!” 

The blonde’s head jerked towards the door in surprise. 

What was he doing here? 

Gwen rushed to the door and opened it, apprehensively looking for the pink bundle he’d carried early. 

“She’s with the sitter, can I come in?”

The blonde opened the door to let him but didn’t say anything. The two tried to get comfortable on the couch but an awkwardness remained. 

“Her name is Madison, Madison Amanda Moore.”, Travis said softly. “She’s almost 18 months old now. A year and ago she came into my life. I didn’t even know she existed until I got a call from social services. I was a wild guy back then, and I barely remembered who her mother was.”

“Was?”, Gwen asked softly, finally looking at him. 

“Was.”, the sandy blonde said solemnly. “Brittany was just as wild as I was, we hooked up a few times when I was living down in Florida and I never saw her again. They said she got into drugs pretty badly after she had Madison.”

“Brittany overdosed for the last time when Madison was about six months old. Apparently, she’d listed me as the father, and social services found me and asked if I could take custody.”

“Wow I’m so sorry”, the Gwen said softly reaching out to grab his hands. 

“Me to”, Travis replied. ”I’m sorry that I lied to you. I’m sorry that Madison won’t ever know her biological mother. But the entire fiasco calmed me down. I had to grow up, focus on my business and learned how to be a father. And then I met you”. 

Blue eyes met green and they couldn’t help but smile at each other. 

“You changed my life you know”, Gwen smiled looking down at their still joined hands. “I was so sure I’d never be happy again, that I couldn’t have it all. I’m still not sure I can”

“You can, we can.”, Travis said taking Gwen into his arms. “I’m glad you took a chance on us and I’m asking you to take another chance and be a part of my daughters’ life”. 

The blonde gently pulled away from the embrace. 

“I see how devoted you are to Jonathan and I know Madison would benefit from having a strong mother figure in her life.”

“Travis”, Gwen interrupted getting up from the couch. “You know how much I care about you and how much I know I would care for Madison, but you know my past. I just don’t think I could stand to love and to lose another child.” 

“Gwen”, He said firmly walking up to her. “Gwen look at me. I’m not him, I’m not Ethan. I’m not going to take Madison and run off with another woman. My daughter is everything to me, just like Jonathan is everything to you. I know what I want for her and for me. I want stability, I want love and I-I want you.” 

A sob escaped Gwen’s throat and threw herself into Travis’ arms.

“I want to believe you, so badly”, she cried. “but it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I learned a long time ago that that my dreams don’t come true.” 

Travis kissed her forehead and did his best to hide his burning anger at the people who had hurt this woman so badly. 

“We’ll see what we can do about that”, he said kissing her again. “Does this mean we’re taking a chance?” 

Gwen stared into his deep green eyes, her heart full of apprehension. She reflected on her early conversation with Sheridan, where her best friend had begged her to choose herself and her happiness for once. The blonde knew she had two choices. She could keep living her life in fear and pain trapped in her past or she could give herself a second chance and finally reach for life she knew she still deserved. 

“Gwen?”, Travis called pulling the blonde out of her deep thinking. 

“We’re taking a chance”, she said tears glistening in her eyes as she pulled him into a passionate kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next On Passions: Ivy’s thrilled to regain a piece of her heart but the storm she’s set in motion ends in tragedy for Kay/Miguel/Charity. Fancy leaves town but not before facing off with the people who hurt her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would hold the hands of the one who could lead me places  
> And kiss the lips of the ones who could sing so sweet  
> And I would fly on the wings of a bird I knew  
> Could take me higher breathe in breathe out  
> You keep me alive, you are my passion for life

The following morning

As a taxi cab arrived for the second time to a beautiful home in Harmony, its occupant sighed heavily. 

“I’m sorry we had to come back. It’ll just be a moment, I forgot something” the beautiful woman said to the driver. 

The driver only nodded respectfully as she exited the car. 

What am I doing here? she thought as she made her way, step by step, to the place she’d once called home. 

As she walked through the front door Fancy was almost crushed with the weight of the memories and dreams she’d had for this house. She was supposed to raise her children and live happily with Luis here, this was supposed to be their home. The blonde quickly swiped the tears that formed and grabbed the business folder she’d come for. She’d cried enough lately, the time for tears was over. Today Fancy was taking charge of her life and leaving those who’d hurt her behind. She just wished she didn’t have to leave those who loved her too. 

The heiress flashed back to her sleepovers with Jessica and Paloma, to her worried parents and to her brother all of whom had only wanted the best for her. They just didn’t understand that the best thing for her was to leave. Fancy didn’t want the fuss or tears over her departure, so the heiress quietly booked a flight to London, where she’d stay for a month before heading to France for the opening of her store. 

I’ll let them know I’m safe once I get there, Fancy reasoned. I just hope they understand. 

The Crane heiress took one last look at her home. It was hard to believe that a place that once held so much hope and now only held heartbreak. As she made to leave the door opened and Fancy found herself face to face with her husband. 

“Fancy”, he said eyes glazing with sympathy. “I didn’t know you’d be here, I just came to-.”

“I’m just leaving”, the blonde cut him off, hating the pity she saw in his eyes. 

“Wait”, Luis said catching her arm as she tried to brush past him. “I noticed the taxi out front, just what do you mean by leaving?”

Fancy chuckled coldly and snatched her arm away from the man who’d betrayed her.

“I don’t owe you an explanation anymore Luis”, she said. “You left me remember? You don’t have to pretend to care.”

“I’m not pretending Fancy, I do still care about you.”, he put his hands in his pocket. I know this is painful, but we don’t have to hate each other.”

“Neither of you are worthy of an emotion as strong as hate”, the Crane heiress quipped coldly. So, I wouldn’t worry about that part. As for caring about me, if that’s what you need to tell yourself in order to sleep comfortably beside my aunt every night feel free.”

“We...I didn’t mean to hurt you this badly”, Luis said unnerved by Fancy’s coldness. “But no matter how many times I say it, you won’t believe it.”

“Exactly”, the heiress snapped. “So, let’s stop wasting time.”

With that Fancy headed down the steps to her still waiting taxi. Before she opened the door, she turned back to face her husband. 

“Luis”, The heiress called, struggling to hold back the tears that had formed. “Go and live your happily ever after with Sheridan... just remember that happily ever after has a price”. 

“Fancy wait”, Luis called finally seeing a glimpse of the girl he’d once loved. 

The blonde heiress just shook her head sadly. She gave her husband, her home and her hopes a final goodbye as she climbed into the taxi and rode away.  
....  
That afternoon

As Ivy Crane Bennett stormed into Julian’s office, it was clear she was furious. She fixed her ex-husband with a glare so harsh it made him flinch. 

“Why on Earth do you keep calling me Julian?!”, the icy blonde thundered throwing her purse down. 

“You are aware that Sam and I have a cafe we’re trying to run and a family to care for?” 

“Oh, Ivy please”, Julian scoffed getting up from the desk. “You seem to have plenty of time on your hands, at least enough time to threaten my sister?”

The Crane patriarch was met with silence.

“Nothing to say?”, he continued as he poured his ex-wife a drink. “Fine let’s talk about Sam, I know Bennett’s other daughter is in town, but I doubt very much they want anything to do with you so why haven’t you returned my calls. 

The police chief wife steeled herself and ignored her ex-husbands’ quip. 

“Jessica and I get along just fine, not that it’s any of your business”, she snapped as she grabbed her drink. “And we’re no longer married I don’t have to come running when you call”

“Actually, I was calling to speak with you about our children, you do remember them don’t you dear?” Julian said trying to hide his growing nervousness. 

“What is it?”, Ivy said forgetting her drink. “Is something wrong with Fancy? Did the hospital call about Pretty?” 

“No Ivy- “, the Crane patriarch began. 

“I haven’t heard from Fancy at all today or yesterday?”, the blonde began to panic. “Has she been into work?”

“If you would just- “. 

Ivy took out her phone and began to dial her daughter’s number frantically. Once the phone went straight to voicemail, she grabbed her purse. 

“She’s not answering Julian!? I’m going by her house, she was so upset about Luis I have to make sure she’s okay.”

“Ivy that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about!”, Julian tried to say as Ivy rushed for the side door exit. 

The door opened suddenly, and Fox Crane stepped into the room. 

“Hello Mother”, he said softly.  
….  
Over at the Bennett house

Jessica Bennett McCoy was stretched out on the sofa thinking of her meeting with Charity when her sister and niece came bustling through the door. 

“I want to play with Endora!”, Maria complained. 

“No!”, her mother responded firmly pulling her into the house. “Endora stayed over last night we just dropped her off with Tabitha.” 

“Then I want to go to my abuelas’ house!” 

“Maria”, Kay sighed sounding extremely tired. 

“Hi honey!”, Jessica yelled from the couch. 

“Aunt Jess!”, Maria yelled as the two finally noticed Jessica. 

The young brunette ran over to the couch and hugged her Aunt. 

“Your tummy is getting really big! Is the baby ready to come out?” 

“Almost”, Jessica smiled. “Sammy’s upstairs napping why don’t you go wake him up so you guys can play.”

“Okay! Maria said and ran upstairs. 

“Almost ready is right”, Kay said as she sat beside Jessica and pulled her sisters’ legs into her lap. 

“I know I’m so uncomfortable!”, she whined. 

You don’t think it’s time do you?”, Kay questioned reaching for the phone. 

“No no no”, Jessica laughed. “I’ve still got at least a month left. I’ve seen Nurse Tracy and a Dr. Green down at Harmony hospital a few times. Now that Dr. Eve Crane is chief of staff she doesn’t have much time to see patients”. 

“That’s good but if you start feeling like its time let me or Dad know okay?”, her sister replied.

“Of course, I will”, the younger brunette said holding up her phone. “I’ll call right away. But Matthew’s flying in this week so I’ll be well taken care of”. 

“So, you’re having the baby here in Harmony?”, Kay asked. 

“Well we stayed longer than I intended to and we don’t want to take any unnecessary chances, so Matt’s decided that we’ll go back once the baby’s born.”, Jessica shrugged.

“I’ll miss you”, Kay said softly playing with her necklace. “We’ve gotten so close. “

“I know but we’ll visit each other as much as we can”, Jessica struggled to sit up and hug her sister causing them both to laugh. 

“Beautiful necklace by the way”, she commented. 

“Thanks, Miguel gave it to me”, Kay said with a slight smile. 

She held the necklace up to Jessica. 

“This birds’ a Phoenix, Miguel said our love is like a phoenix, no matter what challenges it faces it always rises.” 

Jessica gave a half smile but said nothing. Can it handle another round of Charity? she thought. 

Suddenly the pregnant woman felt the urge to go to the bathroom, Kay helped her up from the sofa.

“I’ll go check on the terrible two”, she said as she headed up the stairs.   
...  
A few moments later Kay Lopez Fitzgerald returned to find her younger sister still missing. 

Geez Jessica, I don’t remember peeing that much when I was pregnant with Maria she thought.

Kay sat on the sofa but was startled by a buzzing noise. The brunette started digging around the sofa until she discovered her sisters’ cell phone. Kay’s heart began to thud rapidly as she read the message on the screen “Hey I really enjoyed our breakfast the other day, here’s my address please come over as soon as you can, so we talk”. Oh my god she gasped as she read the message again and again, it wasn’t what was said that had the brunette so shaken. It was who’d said it. 

“Oh my god it’s Charity?” Kay whispered. “She’s back?  
....  
At the Crane Mansion

“W-what is this?”, Ivy gasped dropping her purse. “J-Julian what is this?” 

“Mother”, Fox whispered surprised at how choked up he was. It was hard for him to believe he hadn’t laid eyes on his mother in years.

As Fox stepped forward Ivy stumbled back, she slumped into a faint and Julian caught her. 

“I know this is a shock but it’s real”, he murmured into her ear. “He’s real, our son is alive.” 

“No, it can’t be!”, Ivy cried as she came to. “I saw him Julian! I saw our baby boy on the stretcher. And we had a funeral Julian, don’t you remember? It was the worst day.

“I know I know”, her ex-husband comforted her. “But I gave him a DNA test and it’s him Ivy, it’s Fox”. 

The blonde could only sob and cling to the Crane patriarch.

“I can explain everything Mother”, Fox said stunned at the tenderness between his parents.

Had his death really affected them that much?

“I was kidnapped by grandfather’s minions and held in a bunker for years. Finally, I got away and I found my way back here to Harmony. Whitney’s been helping me, she’s right outside.” 

Ivy continued to sob as she faced the son she’d never thought she’d see again. 

“It’s really you?”, she cried. “I-I never thought I see you again, Fox. Please Julian, promise me this isn’t a dream or- “ 

“It’s not”, the Crane heir said firmly as he stood before his parents. “I was never dead Mother, I’m sorry that you and Father were so hurt by Grandfather’s scheme. But I’m home now and you’ll never have worry about losing me again.” 

With Julian still holding her up, Ivy tentatively reached out and touched her sons’ face, then ran her hands through his hair. The blonde let out a loud sob finally realizing her son really was alive. She threw herself into Fox’s arms and squeezed him tightly. Ivy had her son back and she was never letting him go again.  
…..  
Later than evening in Castleton 

Charity was pacing the floors of her Castleton home, unsure of how long she could continue to hold everything together. Jessica never responded to the text she’d sent earlier that   
day. The blonde could only hope that her cousin and her baby were okay and that no one else had seen the message. 

Elijah had recently returned from spending the day with Paloma, Miguel and Joseph. As Miguel was still not speaking to her, his sister had informed her that Miguel was planning to break the news to his wife that evening and would be contacting her to discuss how to best co-parent their son soon. 

While the blonde no longer held any hope for rekindling things with her son’s father, she couldn’t deny that she was hurt by his harsh treatment. She knew she was responsible for some of his anger she just wished she could tell him everything, including the deal she’d made with death to save his daughter. Charity sighed and tried to forget the painful thoughts of her past, with Miguel. Whatever relationship they had was over, the best thing for them to do now was focus on Elijah. 

Charity fixed herself some tea and settled on the sofa to relax, when there was a knock at the door. Surprised, the blonde rushed to open the door, anxious about who it could be. She opened the door and felt the air rush from her lungs as she found herself face to face with Kay Bennett Lopez-FitzGerald. 

“Kay, how did you find me?” Charity began. 

Kay brushed past her cousin and entered the house. 

“So, it’s true you are back in town, she said facing her former rival. 

“Yeah I’ve been back for a while now”, the blonde replied closing the door. “But you didn’t answer my question, how did you find me?”  
She hadn’t liked the way Kay’d barged into her home but with everything going Charity decided to let it slide. 

“I saw the message you sent Jessica, so I came to see if you were really here myself, the brunette said crossing her arms. 

“Well I’m here”, Charity said softly praying her son didn’t wake up. 

“Why?”, Kay questioned bluntly. “Are you here for my husband?” 

“Actually, I was offered a job here and it came with a fully furnished house” the teacher replied struggling to conceal her annoyance. “It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, no matter how close I’d be to you and Miguel”. 

The brunette stood quietly and played with the necklace Miguel had given her. She looked over at her cousin, she looked the same yet different in some way. Maybe she really had put the past behind her. 

“If that’s all Kay”, the blonde said glancing towards the stairs. “I really need to get some work done school will be back in session soon” 

“You’re a teacher now?”, Kay asked, feeling guilty about her suspicions. 

“Yeah I’ve been teaching for a few years now and I really love it”. 

“That’s great”, Kay replied fidgeting with her necklace. “Charity you should come by and see Dad and Jessica and Sammy while there in town” 

“I’ll try, her cousin said with a soft smile. Kay wasn’t the only one feeling guilty. 

“I-I’d better go, Maria’s at my Dad’s house, the brunette said and headed toward the door.

Just as her hand reached the knob, a cry of “Mama” rang out. 

She swung around to face her blonde cousin. 

“What was that?” she asked stunned. 

“I-I didn’t hear anything”, Charity stammered all the color drained from her face. 

“I know you heard- “ 

“Mama!”, Elijah cried out again followed by loud crying. 

“You...you have a child”, Kay asked in stunned disbelief. 

“Yes”, Charity said holding her head up and staring straight at her cousin. 

Clearly there was no hiding the truth from Kay now. 

“When? With who?”, the brunette asked. 

Charity didn’t answer and turned towards the stairs to go to her child. Kay felt her heart drop. 

It couldn’t be? she thought as she began to follow the blonde up the stairs. 

“Charity”, Kay called the panic in her voice rising. “When did you have a baby?!”

“A couple years ago”, she replied not slowing down. “I think you should go Kay, I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

The brunette stopped at the top step as her cousin rushed into the room the crying had come from. 

“Why would I be hurt?”, Kay whispered to herself. “Unless...”

She walked forward into the room gasped. The blonde stood bouncing a little boy with the brightest brown eyes Kay had ever seen. Slowly the brunette began to think back. Is this why Miguel’s been so distant? Does he know they’re here? How could this possibly be his child? Kay put a hand to her mouth to stiffen a sob and ran from the room.

“Kay wait”, Charity pleaded. She sat her baby down in his crib and went after her cousin. Kay was holding on the stair rail sobbing.

“I’m so sorry, we-I never wanted to hurt you. It was just one time.” 

“Just shut up Charity!”, Kay screamed as the blonde confirmed her worst fears. You didn’t want to hurt me, but you slept with my husband?! 

“I hadn’t seen Miguel in years Kay, and then suddenly he was there, we got caught up in the moment. I’m so sorry” the blonde cried as she reached out to touch her cousin. Kay   
flinched away. 

“My God I can never be rid of you!”, she yelled as she advanced on Charity. “First Miguel abandoned me and Maria to chase you around the world- “ 

“Kay”, Charity warned backing towards the stairs. 

“Then he finally comes back, we finally get married and start a family with our daughter and you manage to sleep with him and get pregnant!”

Kay ran her hands through her hair, her frustration building as the two inched ever closer to the top of the staircase. Suddenly she was a teenager again filled with rage at her mother, at everyone for always choosing Charity.

“God I just want to be rid of you!”, the brunette screamed. “What’s it going to take to finally be rid of you?!“

As Charity once again reached out to comfort her angry cousin, but this time Kay smacked her hand away. The blonde screamed as she lost her balance and began tumbling head   
first down the stairs. The brunette gasped as Charity continued rolling down the stairs, until she finally hit the bottom with a sickening thud. 

“Oh my god, no”, Kay yelled as rushed to the aid of her unmoving cousin. 

She was almost half way down when the baby started crying, the brunette panicked looking upstairs towards the crying child and down at her injured rival. Kay dashed toward Charity and tried to check her pulse. It was faint but still there. 

Oh god what do I do? she thought. 

Mama, Elijah cried loudly. 

Suddenly Kay noticed the phone nearby and quickly dialed 911. As the operator came to the phone Charity moaned. Kay placed the phone near the blonde, so the operator could hear she was in distress. 

“Is anyone there with you?”, the operator asked, but Kay disconnected the line. 

The brunette couldn’t let anyone know she’d been there. Given her bitter history with Charity on top of the nights revelations, no one would believe the fall was an accident. Kay couldn’t afford to lose more than she already had that night. The brunette prayed that Charity wouldn’t remember what’d happened. Suddenly the sound of an ambulance in the distance shook Kay out of her shook. 

With the sounds of Charity moaning in pain and her baby crying weighing on her, Kay fled.


End file.
